Dear Colleagues, In Europe, we are hearing very disturbing facts about travelling to the US when not a US citizen. There are reports that immigration agents at airports are checking contacts, photographs, private messages and other personal data of incoming travellers, as well as their public social media track record of criticising The Donald and others, in order to decide whether they should be allowed in or not. In early 2025 already, a French scientist travelling to Houston for a conference was denied entry after phone messages critical of The Donald were found in his mobile phone. More recently, a student journalist reports that he was given a choice between being immediately sent back and facing a rather humiliating and intrusive interrogation and scrutiny of personal data. No serious suspicion of terrorism or other illegal behaviour could be entertained in either case. There are many more reports of travellers (with impeccable legal histories) voluntarily erasing part of their on-line record before travelling to the US, in order to avoid such pitfalls. My question to colleagues who have recently travelled to the US or know the situation there in greater detail is: are these reports accurate, or are they extremely rare cases of justified intrusion? If the former, I believe that organising international schools, supported by organisations such as CCP4, in the US is not recommendable until the situation is demonstrably set right. With apologies to all my exceptional American colleagues and dear friends, Emmanuel Saridakis
-----Original Message----- From: Qingping <[email protected]> To: CCP4BB <[email protected]> Date: Monday, 2 February 2026 5:53 PM EET Subject: [ccp4bb] 18th Annual CCP4/APS Crystallographic School (2026) in the US Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce that the 18th annual CCP4/APS Crystallographic School, "From Data Collection to Structure Refinement and Beyond," will be held from July 7th to 14th, 2026, at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), near Chicago, Illinois, USA. The workshop is co-hosted by CCP4, GMCA and NE-CAT at APS. All details can be found on the school website: http://www.ccp4.ac.uk/schools/APS-2026/index.php. Dates: July 7th through 14th, 2026 (on-site), June 22nd, 2026 (virtual) Location: Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne (near Chicago), Illinois, USA The school comprises two parts: a data collection workshop and a crystallographic computing workshop. The data collection workshop includes beamline training, data collection at upgraded GMCA and NE-CAT beamlines, and data processing, using only the participants' crystals. The crystallographic computation workshop will feature many modern crystallographic software packages (including CCP4, PHENIX, XDS, HKL, and DIALS) taught by authors and other experts. This workshop will also introduce elements of CryoEM, such as model building and refinement. The daily schedule will be organized in three sections – lectures, tutorials, and hands-on (interactive troubleshooting of the technical difficulties participants face in their projects). An additional virtual day (June 22nd, 2026) will cover sample preparation (cryo-cooling), bioinformatics, and introductory crystallography lectures. We have had considerable success resolving these problems in past years, as attested by resulting publications (see http://www.ccp4.ac.uk/schools/APS-school/publications.php). A draft program can be found on the School website. Applicants: The workshop strongly encourages students who need expert help with difficulties/challenges in their own projects. Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty, along with commercial/industrial researchers, are encouraged to apply. Only about 25 applicants will be selected for participation. Application: The application deadline is May 15th, 2026, but we strongly encourage interested participants to apply as soon as possible. To apply, visit https://www.ccp4.ac.uk/schools/APS-2026/application.php Fees: There is a $500 participation fee for selected academic students and $1,500 for industrial researchers. No credit card will be required for registration; students who are selected to participate will be contacted to pay. The students will be responsible for their transportation and lodging. The workshop organizers can assist in making lodging reservations at the Argonne Guest House. The workshop will cover all other expenses (including meals). We hope to see you at the school. Charles, Andrey, Graeme and Qingping To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
