European Crystallographic Association

The European Crystallographic Association (ECA) is an independent scientific organisation, representing both national crystallographic associations in Europe as well as individual members. ECA was founded in 1997. In May 2021 the association had 35 national and several hundred individual members. ECA is one of the regional affiliates of the International Union of Crystallography. The other independent regional affiliates are the American Crystallographic Association, the Asian Crystallographic Association and the Latin American Crystallographic Association. The association is registered under Dutch law in Zeist.

The mission of ECA is the promotion of crystallography in all of its aspects, including the related field of non-crystalline solid state, as well as extending European cooperation in the field of crystallography. These aims are realised through the support of crystallographic conferences, workshops and schools both in Europe and Africa.

History
ECA was founded during the 17th European Crystallographic Meeting (ECM) in Lisbon in 1997 and is the successor of the European Crystallographic Committee (ECC), which existed since 1972 and which organised earlier ECMs. The early history of ECA until ECM 25 in Istanbul has been published by C. Lecomte. The more recent history was summarised during ECM 28 in Warwick/England in 2013.

Organisation
The governing bodies of ECA are the Council and the Executive Committee. The Council devises all ECA policies and each national member is represented by one Councillor. Individual members elect one Councillor for every 100 members. The Executive Committee is responsible for the day-to-day operation in between Council meetings.

Special interest groups (SIGs) and general interest groups (GIGs) offer a platform for scientists sharing similar scientific interests. Both SIGs and GIGs contribute actively to the scientific program of the European Crystallographic Meetings.

Prizes
ECA awards the Max-Perutz-Prize for special achievements in any field of crystallography. Together with the European Neutron Scattering Association (ENSA) it awards the Erwin Felix Lewy Bertaut Prize to a young scientist in recognition of notable contributions to the investigation of matter using crystallographic or neutron scattering methods..