From 3rd to 7th of February, 2014 All-Russian scientific school “Topological methods in crystal chemistry and materials science” was held in Samara. The school became the first school on materials science which was conducted in Russia. The scientific school was organized by Samara Center for Theoretical Materials Science and hosted by Samara State University.
During the school advanced methods of topological analysis of crystal structures, which increase opportunities of predicting properties of newly synthesized substances and searching for substances with targeted properties, were reviewed. Topos program package and more specialized programs (Systre, 3dt) were used as the main tools during the school.
The school academic program was implemented by Prof. Vladislav Blatov and Prof. Davide Proserpio. The program included 10 hours of lectures and 26 hours of practical training on using software for topological analysis of crystal structures.
The school attracted 27 participants from the leading scientific centers of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Ivanovo, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and Samara. One doctor of sciences, 11 candidates of sciences, graduate and postgraduate students took part in the school; most of them were aged up to thirty years.
During the school special attention was devoted to solving the problems which the participants faced within their research. The opinion poll of the participants showed that they positively evaluated training results and recognized the necessity and significance of such schools.