All participants had the chance to experience the process of SC-XRD, from crystal selection and mounting to CIF preparation, with practice samples and data. The curriculum included theoretical lectures, practical sessions and many hours of equipment time dedicated to collecting datasets from crystals brought by participants, together completing the hands-on experience that is in the spirit of this type of school. The event brought together 44 participants – young professors, PhD, MSc and undergraduate students – from Argentina (4), Bolivia (1), Brazil (4), Chile (3), Costa Rica (2), Perú (2) and Uruguay (28) who had the chance to learn the fundamentals of crystallography and the experimental application of single crystal x-ray diffraction. The second edition of this OpenLab in Uruguay was held in February at FQ-UdelaR sponsored by the IUCr (through the IYCr2014 Legacy Fund), Bruker, Comisión Académica de Posgrado (CAP-UdelaR) and Teclab (Bruker representative in Uruguay).

The aims of the project were to encourage the use of advanced instrumentation, to increase the availability of technology in countries which already have X-ray diffraction facilities and to start some crystallographic activity in less privileged countries (for more information please visit ).ĭuring 2014, Facultad de Química from Universidad de la República (FQ-UdelaR) aqcuired a Bruker D8 Venture diffractometer and was consequently chosen by the IUCr as host of the only Type 1 IUCr-UNESCO OpenLab that has taken place, also the first OpenLab sponsored by Bruker in Latin America (July 2014). The IUCr-UNESCO OpenLab started as an initiative of the International Union of Crystallography during the International Year of Crystallography in partnership with the CCDC and major equipment manufacturers such as Bruker, Panalytical, Agilent, STOE, Dectris, Xenocs, Rigaku, and Anton Paar.

Bruker apex3