Wednesday is a historic day for African science: today we inaugurate the African Crystallographic Association (AfCA). Be sure to catch the historic inaugural session at 11h45 (GMT+2).
A new continental bodyLaunching the African Crystallographic Association
The objectives of AfCA are to contribute to the advancement of crystallography and structural science in all its aspects, to promote African cooperation in crystallography and related areas, and to support the development of education and research in crystallography and the structural sciences across the continent.
We hope to see AfCA become a strong voice for the advancement of science in Africa.
Inaugural programmeToday’s plenary speakers
Dr Seham K. Abdel-Aal
Cairo University, Egypt · AfLS & AfCA Steering Committee
This afternoon’s first plenary speaker, Dr Abdel-Aal, will speak on Fascinating structure and physical properties of lead-free hybrid perovskites for multifunctional applications. She is a lecturer in the Physics Department of the Faculty of Science at Cairo University and a Senior Researcher and Principal Investigator at the Egypt Nanotechnology Center, having obtained her PhD from Cairo University on the synthesis, structure and properties of lead-free organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites.
Her postdoctoral work on graphene nanocomposites was carried out at the Centre of Nanotechnology, Aligarh Muslim University, India. She leads jointly funded bilateral research projects with JINR (Dubna, Russia), the Wigner Research Centre for Physics (Budapest), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China) and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and recently received EGP 200,000 (≈€10,000) from Egypt’s Science and Technology Development Fund for the green synthesis of graphene nanocomposites for energy applications.
Professor Sossina Haile
Northwestern University · Materials Science & Engineering
Today’s second plenary speaker, Professor Haile, centres her research on ionic conduction in solids — understanding the mechanisms that govern ion transport and applying that understanding to advanced solid electrolytes and novel solid-state electrochemical devices such as batteries, sensors, ion pumps and fuel cells.
Her group investigates proton-conducting solid acids and perovskites, mixed oxygen- and electron-conducting perovskites, oxygen-conducting oxides and alkali-conducting silicates, combining A.C. impedance spectroscopy with crystal growth, X-ray and neutron diffraction and thermal analysis to tie electrical behaviour to crystal structure.
Professor Carla Figueira de Morisson Faria
University College London
A specialist in theoretical strong-field laser–matter interaction, Professor Faria has since the mid-1990s developed analytical and numerical models for phenomena spanning particle physics, plasma physics, solid-state physics, novel X-ray sources and attosecond science — an emerging field in which most strong-field processes unfold over attosecond (10⁻¹⁸ s) timescales.
She has more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in optical physics and is a frequent invited speaker at international conferences in the field.
