In 1963 Professor Zichichi began organizing yearly meetings on Subnuclear Physics, bringing together young and famous physicists. He disappeared in 1938 under mysterious circumstances, during an overnight ferry trip to Naples where he had just been appointed full professor of Physics. In Erice, a progressive effort at restoring ancient monasteries and churches has produced very agreable places where scientists and their meetings can be hosted. Of course, it is a difficult task to transform the buildings to attain modern standards and yet preserve their original atmosphere. The maximum number of participants, in order to hold an effective meeting in Erice, would be 120.
Accommodation is provided mainly in twin-bedded rooms with a bath or shower.
After a short, stimulating directorship by Nobel Laureate Dorothy Hodgkin, the direction of the ISCoC has been assumed by Professor Tom L Blundell, FRS, then at Birkbeck College, London, since Oct. 1996 at the Department of Biochemistry, Cambridge University, UK, who has taken up the responsibility for the scientific planning. Thousands of posters announcing each meeting are circulated a year in advance to personal addresses and it is customary to receive 2 to 3 times as many applications as there are places available. The selection is not only based on qualification but also on geographical distribution. In April 1990, two crystallographic courses were run simultaneously in two different halls. During the spring 1996 only 19 days had elapsed when a second course started, while in 1997 and 1999 two courses have been held simultaneously.