ECA - membership

The ECA came into being in Lisbon (1997) through the concept of  National Membership, with a Council comprised of representatives from more than 30 countries, and an elected Executive Committee. 

Also embalmed in the existing statutes are two other types of  members, Affiliate Members (legally constituted organisations), and most importantly "Individual Members".

Definition of ECA membership
According to our Statutes we have three categories of members:

  1. National Members.
     The National Members of the ECA are the participating countries (see council) which are represented in the Council; the Adhering Bodies usually are National Associations or the National Committees for Crystallography. The annual fees to be paid by the National Members is proportional to the number of crystallographers of the country. The National Membership fee is set at 1 € per 'National Associate Member'.
  2. Affiliate [Corporate] Members.
     Affiliate Members are legal bodies (institutions or corporations). To avoid confusion, we write: Affiliate [Corporate] Members. The annual fee for an Affiliate [Corporate] is 250€. In a concept agreement, an Affiliate [Corporate] Member may appoint four employees who will have the same rights as Individual Members.
  3. Individual Members.
     An Individual member is an individual person who chooses to join the ECA independent of any national or organisational affiliation. The annual fee for an Individual Member is 10€. For our convenience we have defined the membership terminology.


    Any Crystallographer who is represented by the National Representative is a 'National Associate Member'. At present, any crystallographer living or working in a country which is a National Member is considered to be a 'National Associate Member'. [ This will change in the future! ]. At present, the annual fee for a 'National Associate Member' is about 1 € which is paid through the National Member.

    An individual person who is not an Individual Member and who is not a National Associate Member [ i.e. who is not represented by a National Representative ] is a ' Non-Member ' . [ This is just a descriptive term. ] ( Examples: people from Ivory Coast, USA, ....who are not registered as Individial Members. )