Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology

The "Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology" (SIMP) was founded in Pavia December 12, 1940 as "Italian Mineralogical Society" and is authorized recognized by the Royal Decree n. 1901. In 1970 he assumed the current name.

The affiliation to the SIMP is open to everyone (individuals and institutions) that deal with mineral sciences, that is, crystallography, mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry and volcanology, and their applications; currently enrolled 330 individual members and 47 institutional members (December 2006), mainly Italians although some come from other European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland) and non (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Japan and USA).

The SIMP is Italy's official representative for mineral sciences and as such delegates at some of the main sister scientific societies, such as the European Mineralogical Union (EMU) and the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). The SIMP was one of the founding companies of the Italian Federation of Earth Sciences (FIST) in which the Presidency Council has two representatives in addition to the President.

The main purpose of the SIMP is to coordinate, promote and publish the studies and research of the various sectors of scientific disciplines it represents. To achieve this objective, it performs the following activities:  Organisation of conferences (every other year in cooperation with the FIST) and of thematic study days in which are presented and discussed the results of scientific research carried out under the Universities, CNR and other public and private research bodies.