A personal update on something else I’ve been working on… seven weeks earlier than expected!

Researchers studied the crystallisation of terephthalic dihydrazide (TeDi) and discovered that it unexpectedly forms two distinct crystal structures simultaneously when cooled in solution. 👀Read in full: ccdc-info.com/4qtsTE4 #Crystallography #ChemSky

This is a special one for me. Getting any paper published in a peer-reviewed journal is amazing (especially as a corresponding author) but to be published in JACS is something else! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

So pleased our review honouring Angelo Gavezzotti has been published! This work was driven by Aurora Cruz-Cabeza and her students, so I’m delighted to be a part of it. Happy New Year! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I wouldn't normally do science on Christmas Eve but the first independent paper of @amyvhall.bsky.social came out. We were honoured to be involved, providing our gelator. She converted into a hydrazone creating an amazing super-porous crystalline material, full of water. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Yesterday, I received an early Christmas present… my first solo corresponding author paper was published! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... We report the structures of bis(acylhydrazone) derivatives and how their behaviour changes with linker length and type – as well as three new polymorphs.

We have pioneered 3D-printing supramolecular gels by wet-spinning, using the patterns to grow cells for regenerative medicine (pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...) or as soft conductors for nanoelectronics (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....). Here is a cool video! www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCgP...

Researchers from every corner of crystallography and related disciplines are encouraged to submit their work for consideration in the program of plenaries, keynotes, microsymposia, and posters. Submit your abstract for IUCr2026 today:

I submitted my first experimental (and solo corresponding author) paper today! It has certainly been a labour of love and I have learnt *so* much from when I first started writing: how to supervise, how to collaborate, how to manage lots of different moving parts... Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I got some @diamondlightsource.bsky.social data back today which has made my year!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The system unlocks a set of strategies to selectively prepare materials that can exist in more than one crystalline form, known as polymorphs. #ChemSky

Amy Hall @amyvhall.bsky.social (Durham) kicks off the #BCA25 polymorphism, hydrates and co-crystals session with "Are hydrogen bonds really queen in molecular cocrystals?"

Obligatory train station coffee picture, this time with @tobyjb.bsky.social. Ready for the BCA 😎💎

Your yearly reminder to acknowledge the core facilities you use and their staff scientists in your papers. These scientists are a crucial part of the scientific ecosystem and to continue to exist they need tangible credit for their work. Plus their associated expertise adds credibility to your work.

I’m giving my first ever keynote talk next week at the British Crystallographic Association Spring Meeting… I’m excited/scared/feeling all the feelings!

Supramolecular Gels as Unique Tools for Reaction Engineering. @angewandtechemie.bsky.social Gels can be used to achieve unique reaction outcomes, and open up wholly new ways of doing synthetic chemistry Very happy to see this review article published: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Yay, I finally made 100 citations! However, it’s 21:30 and I’m almost 30 so I’m going to celebrate by going to bed early 😅

me staring at my data

You also geek out on disordered & defective materials? I and @hannabostroem.bsky.social are organizing a dedicated session at the coming 35th European #crystallography meeting: we'd love to see and showcase your research ✨ Submissions are open at ecm35.org until 30th April, consider joining us!

Nominations are open for this years CCG- @ccdc.cam.ac.uk Chemical Crystallography Prize for Younger Scientists, more details here: ccg.crystallography.org.uk/young-crysta... Please spread the word! 💎🔬🏆

Two spaniel molecules per sofa unit cell (with some disorder).

📣Heading to the @acs.org Spring meeting? Join us in remembering Arnie Rheingold, an incredible scientist, crystallographer, mentor and a predominant figure who greatly influenced the contents of the #CSD. 📆 25th March 🔗 ccdc-info.com/430AwKe #ACSSpring2025 #ChemSky

Happy National Protein Day! Even though I've been a protein crystallographer for ~5 years now, it never ceases to blow my mind that these intricate little molecular machines can form beautiful crystals that are useful for #structure determination!

Even more crystal growing success in the facility today! We've gone from tiny hexagonal disks to large hexagonal rods thanks to repeated seeding.

A giant of modern crystallography has passed. George Sheldrick was the author of the SHELX series of programs (among others) for structure solution and refinement of both small-molecule and macromolecular crystal structures. www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/shel...

Excited to be recruiting a PhD student at Durham! 🎉  Fully-funded position in digital supramolecular chemistry, combining machine learning and lab automation. Think robot chemists! 🤖🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project... #phd #chemistry #ai #machinelearning #automation #durham #research #science

Dimetrodon shaped crystals! (Is that an official morphology? If not, can it be? 👀)

This Virtual Special Issue of Crystal Growth & Design is dedicated to Olga Kennard, honoring her legacy and impact on the field of crystallography. Learn more: https://buff.ly/3X41yML

Don't miss this webinar for a sneak peek 👀 of the upcoming addition of validated #Disorder models in the CSD. Disordered assemblies will be easily visualized & used with key features of Mercury. 📅 20th March - 4pm (GMT) 🔗 attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/828... #StructuralChemistry #CompChemSky

Just out: Women in chemistry: Q&A with Professor Aurora J. Cruz-Cabeza

Nominations are open for this years CCG- @ccdc.cam.ac.uk Chemical Crystallography Prize for Younger Scientists, more details here: ccg.crystallography.org.uk/young-crysta... Please spread the word! 💎🔬🏆

#InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience To celebrate, why not have a look at the European Crystallographic Association's Women in Crystallography video series (youtube.com/playlist?lis...), highlighting some of the experiences, challenges and successes of women in crystallography worldwide.

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

If you are thinking of presenting at the British Crystallographic Association's Spring Meeting (tinyurl.com/bca2025), note that abstract submission closes next Monday.

Our department (KCL, London) has just advertised a couple of Lecturer jobs (c.f. Assistant Prof in the US system), with a focus on sustainable/green or automated chemistry. (I'm not invovled in hiring, and there are contacts/details in the ad) www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/105085-... #chemsky #chemjobs

If you are interested in crystallisation and crystal engineering this is a great opportunity. Postdoc position in Material's Chemistry. durham.taleo.net/careersectio...

Bad. But how bad? I once asked myself, while finding fakes in the Scientific Report @natureportfolio.bsky.social. So I decide to "do my our research" - I took 100 articles in a row from Physical sciences that contains diffraction. Result - 15 fakes out 100. Details in the 🧵 #ResearchIntegrity 1/x

Introducing our Editors' Highlights Collection, showcasing some of our favourite articles published in the journal in 2024: www.nature.com/collections/... #Chemsky

Do you know a UK-based wheelchair user who works in a lab and would be willing to user-test our prototype of what is believed to be the first-ever lab coat adapted for wheelchair users? Please share far & wide! Interest form: forms.office.com/e/66FhcQjqRT More info: www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-east/new...

I’ve just got my first Electron Diffraction structure via the UK National Crystallography Service - thank you! You guys are incredible!

Our recent work was included in Communications Chemistry’s 2024 Editors’ Highlights Collection, what an honour! www.nature.com/collections/...

You don't need to finish and submit your paper before the end of the year. You won't gain time if you do as nobody is going to review it over the holidays. And you know what, your paper is going to be so much better when you read through it with a well-rested brain in the new year. #AcademicSky

Obligatory conference-coffee-train station photo! Heading to #MASC2024 in York. My first MASC since 2018, actually, so really looking forward to the talks and meeting others in person I’ve only spoken to online!

It's a crystallography Christmas at MX 🎄🤶🎁

So I urge and plead with all of those that work in the pharmaceutical industry who end up handling single crystal structures - keep your data! When the dust settles of whatever you have going on, please deposit onto the @ccdc.cam.ac.uk.

Tis the season to survive peer review! 🎄 In our new work, we (@crystalexplorer.net and Aurora Cruz-Cabeza) analyse the Cambridge Structural Database to determine whether hydrogen bonds are actually the most important interaction in cocrystals. Read it here: www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Delighted to see this one come out! Some intuitively sensible results that may run counter to some "conventional" crystal engineering concepts. www.nature.com/articles/s42... Great work from @amyvhall.bsky.social !

Sometimes, a kind email can make all the difference, especially on a rainy Monday morning.

Today is the final day to register for #MASC2024 in York - we have a great meeting lined up on December 16/17 with an array of leading supramolecular chemists. mascgroup.co.uk/masc2024/