Participation in the SpaceCommExpo, London, 4-5 March 2026

The structural research topics currently underway in our research group generated significant interest at the Expo. Crystals, in-situ crystallization, and molecular models were presented. They drew attention to the single-crystal growth and structural research project, successfully carried out on board the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025 by the invitation of the Space Applications Services, and coordination of the Japan Manned Space Systems, took place in the frame of the HUNOR program. HUN-REN’s eight institutions involved in space research were Read More …

Co-authors in the featured publications for February 2026 selected by the Department of Chemical Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Two members of our research group are listed as co-authors in one of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ featured publications. Tamás Holczbauer co-authord the article: Reimagining o-Carborane-Based Fluorophores: Charge-Transfer from Boron Substituents Triggers Aggregation- and Crystallization-Induced Emission published in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2026 byBalázs Szathmári, Yanhong Gao, Dániel Buzsáki, Dániel Zámbó, Tamás Holczbauer, Antal Udvardy, Pál Szabó, Júlia Kertész, Dóra Hessz and Zsolt Kelemen. (https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202521741) o-Carborane-based fluorophores are widely recognized for their aggregation-induced and crystallization-induced emission (AIE and CIE) properties, making them Read More …

A memorial plaque was unveiled in honor of Professor Alajos Kálmán

On 15th December 2025, a memorial plaque was unveiled in honour of Professor Alajos Kálmán at the Szent László High School in Kőbánya. Alajos Kálmán was one of the most outstanding and influential Hungarian scientists of the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Prof. Alajos Kálmán headed the X-ray diffraction department for three decades, which is active in the fields of chemical crystallography and molecular structure research. The research group has been operating Read More …

Science Expo 2025

Our research group, together with two other groups, represented HUN-REN TTK at the Science Expo 2025 exhibition. Our goal was to bring structural research, which is the basis of most chemical and biological research, closer to young people and those interested in the field. We used molecular structure models and microscopes to make the invisible world tangible.

Research stay of Anna Ben from Łódź, Poland

Anna Bell and Petra Bombicz in Visegrad. Anna Ben, PhD student from the Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Łódź, Poland spent three weeks in our research laboratory from 15 Sept to 5 Oct 2025 in the frame of a Visegrád fellowship. Her primarily aim was to learn isostructurality calculation, analysis of structural similarity. She had also API compounds with her for cocrystal formation. We enjoyed her advanced knowledge of crystallography and her company.

Participation at ECM35 in Lviv/Poznań

Sourav De, Petra Bombicz and Szymon Sobczak at the ECM35 in Poznań. Two members of our research group attended the 35th European Crystallography Meeting in Poznań, Poland. The conference was great in science and was well organized. One lecture and two posters were presented: Petra Bombicz: Comparing crystal structures: isostructurality Sourav De, Szymon Sobczak, Paulina Ratajczyk, Natalia Sacharczuk, Tibor Soós, Petra Bombicz, Andrzej Katrusiak, Tamás Holczbauer: Influence of high pressure on the crystal structure of quinine catalyst Gracjan Russ, Tamás Read More …

Crystals grown at the ISS were measured at the Diamond LS

Petra Bombicz in the room of crystal preparation of I19 beamline at Diamond Light Source. Our single crystal growth experiments which were performed in microgravity on board the International Space Station in the Kirara #6 incubator during the SpaceX-32 mission in the frame of the HUNOR program in cooperation with Space Application Services and Japan Manned Space Systems have arrived back to Earth. The single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments on the samples grown in microgravity and their counterpart crystals grown Read More …

Crystallization on board

Full article: https://www.icecubesservice.com/journal/ The crystallization experiments have successfully arrived on board the International Space Station We have recently reported that the researchers of the Centre for Structural Science of HUN-REN RCNS developed a method to grow single crystals of organic compounds in microgravity and sent two compounds for crystallization on board the International Space Station by the invitation of the Space Application Services with the guidance of Japan Manned Space Systems. The samples have arrived with the Kirara#6 mission flown Read More …

Organic framework crystallization at the International Space Station

The Chemical Crystallography Research Laboratory has developed a method to crystallize organic compounds in microgravity by the invitation of Space Application Services with the guidance of Japan Manned Space Systems. Two compounds synthetized by the Organocatalysis Research Group of Institute of Organic Chemistry of HUN-REN RCNS (OrgCat – Soós Organocatalysis Research Group) will get to the board of the International Space Station in the frame of the HUNOR program in order to grow single crystals of hydrogen bonded organic framework Read More …