The overall aim of this MSc course is to give students a broad view of the subject of crystallography. The course is divided into two sections with the aim of providing a basic grounding in the subject followed by an illustration of how crystallography is applied to the various scientific disciplines. The aim of section one is to cover the concept of crystal structures and symmetry, the physics of scattering and diffraction theory, experimental diffraction from single crystals, instrumentation and powder diffraction. Section two explores the analysis of single-crystal data, techniques used in protein crystallography, electron microscopy, and provides in-depths studies of the application of crystallography in different situations. For students with a weaker mathematical background, a supplementary mathematics course is provided.

Section 1

• Crystal Structures & Basic Symmetry
  Objective is to explain the description of a crystal structure in terms of atom positions, unit cells, and crystal symmetry; and to relate the crystal symmetry to the symmetry observed in a diffraction experiment, for symmetries up to and including primitive orthorhombic.
• Diffraction Techniques (with Camera & CAD4 practicals)
  Objective is to give students a working knowledge of reciprocal space, X-ray photography with oscillation, Weissenberg, & precession cameras, single-crystal laboratory diffractometers, and Laue diffraction.
• Scattering & Diffraction Theory
  Objective is to give the students a grounding (both mathematical and intuitive) into the interaction of radiation with condensed matter and how this can be used in generalised crystallography. This grounding should supplement the lectures and practicals elsewhere in the course.
• Instrumentation & Powder Diffraction (with D500 practical)
  Objective is to give the students a background to the instrumentation used for powder diffraction, to illustrate the different uses of powder diffraction, and to give as much hands-on experience of data collection, data interpretation, and structure refinement as possible within the time allowed.
• Advanced Symmetry
  Objective is to explain the salient points of higher-symmetry space groups, namely those belonging to the tetragonal, trigonal, hexagonal, and cubic crystal systems.
• Mathematics for Crystallographers
  Objective is to revise the mathematical concepts required for an understanding of crystallography for those students with a weak mathematical background. Specific aims include an understanding of vectors, their properties and manipulation; matrices and how to use them; simple trigonmetry and the trigonmetric functions; the use of complex numbers; and experimental counting statistics, systematic and statistical errors, and the significance and use of error values in the scientific literature.

• Chemical Crystallography
  Objective is provide instruction on the methods and basis for determining low-molecular weight crystal structures using X-ray Crystallography; to enable interpretative assessment of the results of crystal structure analysis to be carried out; and to guide students through several actual analyses using the SHELX-program suite implemented on Pentium PC's.
• Electron Microscopy (with EM practicals)
  Objective is to introduce the students to the basic fundamentals of electron microscopy as a useful subsidiary technique for crystallographers; to explain and demonstrate the use of the electron microscope; to provide examples of its application in materials science and macromolecular structural biology.
• Protein Crystallography
  Objective is to teach the basics of modern protein crystallography using Web-based material; to discuss the different levels of structure exhibited by proteins; to demonstrate the instrumentation, steps, and methods used in protein crystallography with appropriate case studies; to introduce the concept of non-crystallographic symmetry to protein crystallography.
• Applied Crystallography
  Objective is to give the students a few in-depth examples of the applications of materials and solid-state chemical/physics crystallography in academic research, industrial research, and its general use in the outside world.
• Non-Crystalline Systems
  Objective is to provide students with some insight into the techniques used to examine either poorly-crystalline materials or totally non-crystalline materials and thus to provide a contrast with techniques such as powder diffraction.
• Crystallography at EPSRC central facilities
  Objective is to provide students with a background to the radiation sources provided by EPSRC central facilities, the type of diffraction experiments performed there, and an on-site experience.

Link to Learning Resources.

Link to MSc Crystallography Timetable 1996/7 (local access only).