Crystallography research in Latin America started with the pioneering work of Prof. Ernesto Galloni in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the 1940s. The progress in several countries was very fast and, during the 1950s and 1960s, courses on crystallography were given regularly in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The first international crystallography course in Latin America was probably the “Latin American course on Pure and Applied Crystallography” held in Santiago, Chile, in 1959, which was the birth of the Ibero American Crystallographic Group. This group organized several meetings and courses during 35 years. Unfortunately, due to economic problems and the long distances among the countries involved, this group was finally dissolved. The Latin American Crystallographic Association (LACA) was founded in October 2013 in Córdoba, Argentina, and recognized as a Regional Association of the IUCr during the 22nd IUCr Congress and General Assembly (Montreal, Canada, August 2014). At present, this association has seven full members (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Venezuela) and organizes several meetings, schools and OpenLabs. The International Year of Crystallography 2014 (IYCr2014) was an excellent opportunity to increase the work related to education and outreach throughout Latin America and several activities were carried out, including exhibitions, science fairs, art or photo contests, outreach talks, etc. In addition, very successful national crystal growing contests were organized in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, which also involved short courses on crystallography and crystal growth for primary and secondary school teachers. Most of these activities were organized during several years with great success.

Nowadays, there are an important number of regular local, national or international courses in Latin America, covering all kind of topics: single crystal X-ray diffraction, powder diffraction, fundamental crystallography, protein crystallography, crystallization methods, synchrotron radiation techniques, neutronic techniques, small-angle X-ray scattering, X-ray absorption spectroscopies, etc. Many of them are organized by national crystallographic associations, while LACA has a regular regional Crystallography school. In most of the cases, the topics taught in these courses involve applications in a wide variety of areas, resulting in interdisciplinary activities that are enriching for all the participants.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a global challenge and many congresses, schools, courses and outreach activities in Latin America had to be postponed or cancelled. However, as 2020 progressed, some of these difficulties were overcome. For example, the 3rd LACA school on Small Molecule Crystallography, planned to be held in Mexico in March 2020, was postponed, but it was finally held in a virtual modality in November/December 2020 with great success. Many virtual courses were also organized and some of them, thanks to the online modality, reached new regions or countries. Such was the case of the short courses on crystallography and crystal growth organized by the Argentinian Association of Crystallography (AACr), that in 2020 had to be taught in a new virtual format. These courses received a large number of new participants not only from Argentinian cities not previously visited by AACr members, but also from all over Latin America.

Finally, it is worth to mention that the crystal growing contests organized in Argentina and Uruguay continued in 2020, this time proposing that students work from home with simple and inexpensive materials, without any danger. In the case of the contest organized by the AACr, bibliographic research works related to crystallography were also accepted in the 2020 edition, allowing the participation of students that could not grow crystals at home or school. Once again, both contests were highly successful and are planned to be continued in 2021.

African countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, suffers from a severe deficit of engineers and scientists and relies heavily on imported expertise for several reasons including poor quality of education, limited research facilities, and lack of practical experience among graduates. According to the UNESCO’s second engineering report, Africa continues to have the lowest number of engineering professionals per capita of all regions of the world [1]. Hence, developing inclusive high-tech education and research facilities is an efficient way to bridge this gap. That is the purpose of the X-TechLab.

X-TechLab is a regional training platform that aims to provide the region with skills and tools to use X-ray techniques for developing innovative solutions to critical issues in Africa. The initiative is the result of an interaction between the Lightsources for Africa, the Americas, Asia, Middle East, and the Pacific (LAAAMP) and the Sèmè City hub, one of Benin Government’s flagship projects, which aims to create a world-class knowledge and innovation centre in Africa. The goals are to: 1) provide hands-on experience with the use of cutting-edge X-ray equipment, 2) develop X-ray-based problem-solving skills targeting specific socioeconomic issues, 3) meet the requirement for Feeder Facilities that allow the preparation of samples to be studied at world advanced light sources and 4) contribute to the emergence of a community of experts who will be active users of the future African Synchrotron.

Learners participating in the X-TechLab are trained around 2 parallel, interrelated yet distinct, tracks: Crystallography and X-ray diffraction techniques, including both single and powder diffraction applied to structural studies; and Absorption and phase contrast X-ray imaging (Microtomography) using mathematical tools for research on sustainable and ecological materials. Started in 2019, X-TechLab training sessions gathered many scientists from several countries and scientific disciplines. As shown in the figure below, 84 participants with 1/3 of women from 12 African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo) have been trained [2]. About 20 Experts from several academic institutions worldwide (Africa, Europe, USA) are involved in the training sessions. This will emphasize the unique potential of X-ray techniques as a multidisciplinary tool for development in Africa.

Modern crystallography, as an umbrella of techniques and methods, reaches out to almost everyone interested in the basic question: how are atoms or molecules arranged in a material. This inherent interdisciplinarity of crystallography is further supported by availability of various schools for aspiring crystallographers. On one hand, a well-curated content, good choice of lecturers, and offered sponsorships, make it possible to reach out to students from various backgrounds, interests, regions and economic status. On the other, on-site presence and a good social program ensure interactions between lecturers, students and organizers. Having all this in mind, the success of these schools is not a coincidence. Their interdisciplinarity seems to rely on three factors: content, outreach and interactivity.

In the last year, COVID19 has forced many of crystallographic schools and initiatives to undergo a digital transformation. Emergence of virtual schools has removed many restraints imposed by physical presence in real space: costs, time and geographical limitations, and recruitment of lecturers and speakers. However, it also opened up new questions. What are the needs of a modern researcher/crystallographer? Can crystallography get more interdisciplinary by adopting new fields, such as didactics, communications and economics? Can modern technology be used to enforce interdisciplinarity by improving interactivity, outreach and content?

This presentation looks back to the past and then turns to the future in order to examine possible ways that could be taken to optimize content, outreach and interactivity in both real and virtual schools. Examples are focused on building and maintaining crystallographic communities and include use of social media, industry-academia collaborations, and online interaction tools.

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From December 2010 till December 2020, I have been involved in over a dozen schools and short courses in different countries of Latin America where I -alone or as part of a group of Lecturers- have been teaching crystallographic symmetry and the International Tables for Crystallography Volume A: Space Group Symmetry (ITC-A). I was not new to teaching symmetry in 2010 since I have taught an undergraduate course of Crystallography for Chemists at my institution since 1995. However, the first of these international schools, and the one I have been involved in more times (the International School on Fundamental Crystallography with MaThCryst Commission [1]), has pushed me to teach symmetry in many other schools devoted to single crystals and/or powder X-rays and/or neutron diffraction, that have recently evolved to virtual schools (such as the 3^rd LACA School on Small Molecule Crystallography [2]). This lecturing has allowed me to meet all sorts of students/researchers of very different backgrounds from most of the countries of the region, as well as interacting with many colleagues working in different areas of crystallography, solid-state physics/chemistry, and materials science. With the aim of improving the learnings of students over the years, I have tried to make systematic observations of the background, difficulties, and outcomes of participants in the different kinds of schools. It is significantly different to evaluate the outcome of learning symmetry in very different course formats having a total time of symmetry lectures of 40, 15, or 4 hours. Moreover, it could be argued that nobody could learn any significant concept about crystallographic symmetry in 4 hours. However, the need of students and users/practitioners of crystallography coming from different disciplines, of having at least the minimal rudimentary tools to deal with symmetry in everyday work makes it worth it. Figure 1 shows two extracts of the many evaluation forms I have collected in the last decade. In this presentation, I will show the main conclusions of the evaluations regarding the fundamental part of the courses, and more specifically symmetry and the ITC-A, and share some of the strategies I have developed to give students with common or varied background the best tools I consider could make a difference for their understanding of symmetry, even in the very unfavourable conditions of teaching 2 hours of theoretical and 2 hours practical sessions. Luckily this will help other colleagues improve their teaching work, as well as giving me feedback for my next 10 years of teaching symmetry.

[1] https://www.crystallography.fr/mathcryst/meetings.php (scroll down to Schools in Latin America).

[2] https://www.iquimica.unam.mx/LACA/

I would like to acknowledge M.I. Aroyo and M. Nespolo from MaThCryst Commission and J. Ellena and H. Napolitano from LACA for pushing me to organize schools and Open-labs in Montevideo, Uruguay that have eventually made me specialize in teaching crystallographic symmetry in local and international schools in the Latin American region. I would also like to thank all the colleagues that have shared the heavy but rewarding task of organizing and Lecturing in the Schools I have been involved in over the years. I would finally want to dedicate this abstract to the memory of Prof. Dr. Graciela Punte from LANADI, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina for being an inspiring crystallographer and teacher and selflessly contributing to the current development of the Latin American and particularly the Uruguayan community of Crystallographers.

Resources to develop high impact skills in diffraction data collection and interpretation can be limited by facility access, expert availability, and the budgetary requirement to meet a critical mass of participants before it becomes practical to offer instruction. At the local level, shared resources between institutions, as well as curriculum approaches that incorporate scaffolding practices from first year general chemistry to senior undergraduate capstone courses, can be employed to equip trainees with skills in structural science.¹ Looking to the regional and (inter)national level, the Canadian National Committee for Crystallography (CNCC)¹ sponsors the annual Canadian Chemical Crystallography Workshop (CCCW) and the Canadian Powder Diffraction Workshop (CPDW), both which have now past their first decades of instruction. Several hundred trainees from Canada, and well beyond (for example, the US, UK, and Brazil) have participated in these opportunities.

As a university instructor, the organizer for CCCW2019 – 2021, and an administrative supporter of CPDW, this presentation will highlight (1) the diversity of experiences that attendees have, (2) logistical aspects of organizing and teaching in these various ventures, with a look at the transition to remote delivery for CCCW2020 and 2021, amid the current pandemic, and (3) I will share some insights and results from past trainees whose research practices have been transformed as a result of these learning opportunities.

1. Gražulis, S.; Sarjeant, A. A.; Moeck, P.; Stone-Sundberg, J.; Snyder, T. J.; Kaminsky, W.; Oliver, A. G.; Stern, C. L.; Dawe, L. N.; Rychkov, D. A.; Losev, E. A.; Boldyreva, E. V.; Tanski, J. M.; Bernstein, J.; Rabeh, W. M.; Kantardjieff, K. A. Crystallographic Education in the 21st Century. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 2015, 48, 1964–1975. https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576715016830.

2. Canadian National Committee for Crystallography: https://xtallography.ca/

We are privileged in crystallography that every published crystal structure is shared through established databases and that scientists worldwide can gain new insights from these collections. The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) was set up to curate and distribute one of these databases, the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), a resource containing over one million experimental crystal structures.

As a non-profit organisation sharing data from crystallographers worldwide the CCDC has always had a keen interest in developing material to help others to use structural data to teach both chemical concepts and crystallography. More recently we have realised that we also need to use our position in the scientific community to engage students and researchers to help promote interdisciplinarity in research.

This presentation will highlight some of our efforts to cultivate more interdisciplinarity in science from the establishment of new guidelines, partnerships, links and community initiatives. We will explore recent activities to engage scientists across research areas and ages through our involvement in a variety of schools, workshops and science festivals globally. We will also share our experiences in creating more virtual resources including a new series of CCDC virtual workshops and on-demand training courses through CSD University.

Finally, we will reflect on some of the challenges we have faced, what we have learnt from our experiences and look at what more could be done to increase interdisciplinarity in science.