What Is the American Crystallographic Association (ACA) Website?

Updated

amercrystalassn.org is the home of the American Crystallographic Association (ACA), a professional society for crystallography and structural science. The site is a working hub for the field rather than a general reference library: it is where members join and renew, where annual meeting and workshop programming is announced, where awards and travel grants are administered, and where the association's publications and community resources are collected. Some areas, such as the member landing page and member exchange, sit behind a member login, so expect parts of the site to be member-only.

What the organization is

The ACA describes itself as a society of "Society Memberships & Industry Connections," organized around National Divisions and Scientific Interest Groups (SIGs). Governance runs through a Leadership Council and committees, with a separate Leadership Track for SIG leadership. The association's subject scope is visible in its publication Structural Dynamics, which has a current issue and upcoming special topics, and in outreach programs such as "Growing Crystals, Growing Curiosity" and the ACA Summer Institute for Structural Science.

Main areas of the site

Area What you'll find
Membership Become a Member, Member Landing Page, Corporate Partnerships and Corporate Membership, current corporate partners
Meetings & activities Annual meeting information, IUCr2026 Calgary, future meetings, workshop information, calendar and events
Awards & grants Etter Student Lecturer Award, poster prizes, travel grant program, Three Minute Thesis competition, Excellence in Structure, Fellows, award nomination information and current winners
Publications & reference Structural Dynamics, RefleXions archive, Media Archive, Reference Shelf, ACA History Center
Outreach & education Growing Crystals, Summer Institute for Structural Science, sponsored programs
Community & careers Job opportunities, open employment postings, event calendar, press release submissions, advertising
Member-only Member login, Member Exchange, ACA Insights, Action Toolkit

What the site is currently promoting

The homepage highlights a call for proposals: "Share Your Expertise — Propose an ACA 2027 Workshop!" The prompt "Have a workshop idea taking shape?" invites members to help shape the educational program for the ACA 2027 Annual Meeting in San Jose, California. This is a useful illustration of how the site functions — it is the channel through which the community contributes to meeting programming, not just a place to read about it.

Who it's for and how to use it

  • Prospective or current members: start with "Become a Member" and the Member Landing Page; corporate options are listed separately under Corporate Membership.
  • Students and early-career researchers: the awards and grants section is the practical entry point — Etter Student Lecturer Award, poster prizes, travel grants, and the Three Minute Thesis competition all have dedicated pages.
  • Anyone planning to attend or present: check Meetings & Activities and the Calendar & Events for the annual meeting, future meetings, and workshop information.
  • Job seekers and employers: the Job Opportunities section and the open employment posting form serve both sides.
  • Researchers looking for the society's science: Structural Dynamics and the RefleXions and Media archives are the publication-facing areas.

Practical notes

A member login appears in the site navigation, and several linked areas (Member Exchange, Member Landing Page) are framed as member resources — plan on an account for those. The site does not publish pricing or fee information on the pages reviewed here, so membership cost and any login requirements should be confirmed directly through the membership pages rather than assumed.