Announcement from The Chair: Jürgen Harter Steps Down as CEO
Announcement from Susan Bourne, Chair of Trustees, on behalf of the board of trustees.
I’d like to announce that Dr Jürgen Harter has decided to step down as the Chief Executive Officer of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre with effect from 30 November 2024.
Since his appointment in 2018, Jürgen has led the Centre through a sometimes challenging transformation. During his period of leadership, the Cambridge Structural Database has continued to grow, celebrating one million structures in 2019 and 1.25 million expert-curated experimental crystal structures in 2023. Jürgen has personally engaged with scientists around the world, through regular conference presentations and visits to many countries.
Collaborations with major publishers ensure that data is incorporated into the CSD quickly and effectively. Users have benefitted from improved accessibility through both desktop and web-based systems.
The CCDC has continued to expand its charitable mandate by building the global crystallographic community. The CSD FAIRE programme ensures effective access to crystallographic data by allowing users in underrepresented countries to access crystal structures. At the same time the CCDC continues to be an internationally recognized research institute, collaborating with academic and industrial partners in impactful research.
This change will not have any impact on our users. The CSD data and software, as well as our customer and technical support functions, remain ready to help scientists everywhere. Our product development plans remain on track, and updates and releases will continue as usual. The CCDC will continue to invest in and deliver its product roadmap and service levels supported via our dedicated customer and technical teams.
The Trustees thank Jürgen for his contributions and wish him well in his next endeavours. For further enquiries contact