The International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) is holding its 24th Congress and General Assembly at Hyderabad, India, between 21 and 28 August, 2017. India joined the IUCr in 1951 but this is the first time that the triennial Congress is being held in this country. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was established in 1908 and is the premier research institution in India for science subjects in the academic sector and has been awarded the status of a deemed university. On the occasion of the 24th Congress of the IUCr, the Journal of the Indian Institute of Science has decided to bring out a special issue featuring contributions of young researchers from India and neighbouring countries in the general area of crystallography. I am pleased and honoured to have been asked to guest-edit this special issue, which is being made freely available to all the participants of the 24th Congress of IUCr.

Crystallography is a subject of very wide scope today, and goes much beyond the determination of crystal structures of organic, inorganic and biological molecules of interest. The articles in this special issue show this wide spread of the subject and also outline how the subject of crystallography will continue to have a major influence on the development of physics, chemistry, biology and material sciences in the future.

I thank the authors for their contributions, the referees of these papers for their timely reports, and the Archives and Publications Cell of the Indian Institute of Science for its unfailing courtesy and cooperation.

Gautam R. Desiraju

Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore