Twenty-Seventh Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography

August 11 - 18, 2026 | Calgary, Canada

Canadian National Committee for Crystallography		The American Crystallographic Association		U.S. National Committee for Crystallography (USNC/Cr)

Recent IUCr President, Marvin Hackert, compiled a list of the six IUCr Congresses held in North America during the past 75 years, which are Boston (1948), Montreal (1957), Stony Brook (1969), Ottawa (1981), Seattle (1996), and Montreal (2014). We anticipate over 2500 participants from around the world at the Calgary 2026 Congress, and a can’t-miss program of cutting-edge research in every area of crystallographic/structural science.

(Pictured Above: Beautiful Lake Moraine in Banff national park, Alberta, Canada)

Calgary is a spectacular metropolitan city with rapidly growing technology and tourism industries. Here are a few of the many reasons why Calgary is the perfect city for hosting the IUCr Congress in 2026.

• Calgary is surrounded by beautiful mountains and prairies, American-frontier and Indigenous culture, and one of the largest dinosaur-fossil sites in the world. Nearby attractions include Dinosaur Provincial Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Banff National Park, Lake Louise, Drumheller, The Badlands, Waterton Lakes National Park, Canmore Cave, and the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology.

• Calgary has invested over 1 billion CAD to build a brand-new convention center (BMO Center) and surrounding parks and retail/food district to support it. This facility is also the home of the annual Calgary Stampede, which attracts over one million visitors each year.

• Calgary’s international airport is one of the largest in Canada with many direct flights within North America, to/from Europe, and to/from Asia. It has one-stop connections to virtually every major city in the world.

• Calgary is a relatively inexpensive city to visit. It has very reasonable hotel rates in the downtown area, and low-cost University of Calgary accommodations for early career scientists (as low as $34/night for a shared dormitory room).

• The Calgary transit system is inexpensive and efficient in connecting the downtown area, airport, convention center, and university.

• Calgary has beautiful riverside parks, walking paths, and is home to many festivals and open-air events. It is one of the safest major cities in North America.

• Canada is widely recognized for its diversity, inclusive culture, and travel-friendly policies.

• Calgary and the greater province of Alberta has a strong crystallographic-research community, which has mobilized to support the organization of the congress.

While plans for IUCr2026 are still in the early stages, representatives from all three organizations have worked closely with Tourism Calgary on a vision towards an inclusive Congress, with consideration towards caring responsibilities of parents, access to nearby childcare, and dedicated on-site lactation facilities. The newly constructed BMO Centre includes gender-neutral washrooms, easy access to power stations for electronics, and conveniently located common areas for colleagues to gather and share ideas in-person. For those who are unable to attend in-person, and in keeping with our goal to include our full crystallographic community, hybrid conference engagement will be possible. Full registration fees will include the opening reception, morning and afternoon coffee breaks, Calgary light rail transit (CTrain) passes for the duration, hors d’oeuvres/soft drinks at five poster sessions, and the conference banquet. The congress will be organized so as to keep the exhibition hall central to most of its activities, and particular emphasis will be given to ensuring the high quality and accessibility of the poster sessions. Furthermore, a student and early career scientist-oriented approach has been taken into consideration, wherein students and early career scientists will receive subsidized lunches.

We welcome you to Calgary in 2026!

Branton J. Campbell (USNC/Cr Chair)
Louise N. Dawe (IUCr2026 Bid Co-Chair, CNCC Vice Chair)
Joseph D. Ferrara (IUCr2026 Bid Co-Chair, USNC/Cr Vice Chair)
Marie Fraser (IUCr2026 Local Organizing Committee Co-Chair)
Tomislav Friščić (CNCC Chair)
Steve Ginell (ACA Treasurer)
Joanne Lemieux (IUCr2026 Local Organizing Committee Co-Chair)
Cora Lind-Kovacs (ACA Vice-President)
Kristin H. Stevens (ACA Executive Director)

Find Out More About Calgary