Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre
Encyclopedia
The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) is a crystallographic
organisation based in Cambridge
, England. It is a non-profit organisation whose primary role is the compilation and maintenance of the Cambridge Structural Database
, a database of small molecule crystal structure
s. They also perform analysis on the database for the benefit of the scientific community, and write and distribute computer software
to allow others, to do the same.
The CCDC originally grew out of the work of Dr. Olga Kennard
in the department of Organic, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge
in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although it still retains very close links to the University - it produces students for postgraduate research degrees - it is no longer officially a part of it.
Crystallography
Crystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...
organisation based in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England. It is a non-profit organisation whose primary role is the compilation and maintenance of the Cambridge Structural Database
Cambridge Structural Database
The Cambridge Structural Database , is a repository for small molecule crystal structures. Scientists use single-crystal x-ray crystallography to determine the crystal structure of a compound. Once the structure is solved, information about the structure is saved in a file and deposited in the CSD...
, a database of small molecule crystal structure
Crystal structure
In mineralogy and crystallography, crystal structure is a unique arrangement of atoms or molecules in a crystalline liquid or solid. A crystal structure is composed of a pattern, a set of atoms arranged in a particular way, and a lattice exhibiting long-range order and symmetry...
s. They also perform analysis on the database for the benefit of the scientific community, and write and distribute computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
to allow others, to do the same.
The CCDC originally grew out of the work of Dr. Olga Kennard
Olga Kennard
Olga Kennard, née Weisz is a British crystallographer, and was Director of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre from 1965 to 1997.She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1987 and awarded the OBE in 1988...
in the department of Organic, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although it still retains very close links to the University - it produces students for postgraduate research degrees - it is no longer officially a part of it.