16th MDCW Focus Groups and Short Course 2025

In 2025, the 16th workshop will be hosted in person in Liege, Belgium. The workshop will be shared between key speaker presentations, flash presentations, poster presentations, and focus group discussions on the challenges and the futures of the field. The workshop is dedicated to all multidimensional techniques.

Program

The Guidebook contains the program and all other pertinent conference information.

• Final Program (On-line)
• Final Guidebook (PDF)
• Abstract Book (PDF)

We hope to see you there!

Focus Groups 2025

Guided Discussion 1:​ Transition to green chemistry, challenges and opportunities for analytical revolution

• Moderators: Melissa Dunkle (Dow Benelux), Pierre Giusti (TOTAL Energies), Jef Focant (Université de Liège)

Over the last five years, the political actions to minimize climate change have deeply modified the landscape of chemical and energy industries. These ambitious targets are currently driving the research and development effort to greener solutions for material, chemical, and energy production.  
During this discussion group, we will discuss with key actors of the field to see the challenges and opportunities for analytical technology in this green revolution.  

• What is the biggest impact of the green revolution on your work?  
• How have these changes impacted your work as an analytical scientist?  
• What are the biggest challenges you aim to tackle in the next 3 years?  
• How has your knowledge on non-renewable matrices helped you to address these challenges?  
• What are the opportunities for separation sciences in tackling those challenges?  
• Any success stories you can share with the audience?  

Guided Discussion 2: Teaching GC×GC to students, post-docs, and staff

• Moderators: Chris Freye, Colleen Ray, and Michelle Corbally (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Teaching GC×GC to people in different stages of their careers, especially with diverse analytical chemistry backgrounds, often requires a different approach. Those who learn GC×GC as part of their graduate school experience have multiple years to master the technique whereas people who are trained on the job (post-docs and staff) have significantly less time to attain the same level of proficiency. This discussion will focus on instructional approaches and difficulties in training people with various backgrounds on GC×GC. Special attention will be given to common difficulties encountered regardless of career level.

GOLD SPONSORS 2025

• LECO

• JEOL

MDCW: MDCW 2025 Gold Sponsors.

Short Course - 2025

The 2025 Short Course registration is now closed. Thank you for your interest.

A Beginner’s Guide to Multidimensional Chromatography

• Instructors: Pierre-Hugues Stefanuto, Katelynn Perrault Uptmor, Dwight Stoll, Petr Vozka

Course Description

So...you want to do multidimensional chromatography? If you are getting started in the field using either liquid or gas chromatography, you’re in the right place. This course will cover a brief history and introduction to both multidimensional gas chromatography and multidimensional liquid chromatography. Discussion will also include basic system components and data handling strategies to apply after acquiring your data. A hands-on portion of the course will also include familiarization with common system components and consumables for both GC and LC, as well as the opportunity to use a commercial GC×GC instrument.

Target Participants

This course is intended to be an initial touchpoint for those who are looking to explore multidimensional chromatography as a new option/capability, or who might be using it for the first time. The course is intended for new users to obtain a background on the techniques as a primer to the workshop.  Advanced topics will not be discussed.

Course Logistics

• Morning Session (8:30 AM – 12:30 PM): Pentahotel Liège, Bd de la Sauvenière 100, 4000 Liège
• Afternoon Session (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM): University of Liège Sart Tilman Campus, Quartier Agora, Allée du Six Août 11, 4000 Liège

Lunch and coffee will be provided. Transportation to/from the university for the afternoon session will be organized for the group.  

Cost

A $50 fee is required to reserve a spot in the course. 20 seats are available. An expression of interest form will be available to indicate interest in a seat within the course. On November 1st, participants will be informed about seat availability and the payment process will be communicated.

SILVER SPONSORS SPONSORS 2025

• SpectralWorks

• GC Image

• SepSolve Analytical

• TRAJAN

• Exxon Mobil

• GL Sciences

• RIC Group

• Inter Science

• TotalEnergies

• SRA Instruments analytical solution

MDCW: SILVER SPONSORS SPONSORS - 16th Multidimensional Chromatography Workshop (MDCW)

Part I (1 hr) – History, Terminology, Fundamental Concepts

• Outline (Total Time ~ 4 hrs)

1. Brief history of the development of multidimensional separations
2. Terminology
3. Fundamental Concepts
   1. In what ways are multidimensional separations useful for analytical chemistry / measurement science?
   2. First and second separations should be orthogonal / complementary
   3. Fast second dimension separations are important to avoid undersampling
   4. Structured chromatograms can provide chemical insight and facilitate data interpretation
   5. Highlights of an example data processing workflow – from raw data to actionable information  

Part II (1.25 hr) Introduction to Multidimensional Gas Chromatography

1. Method basics
   1. Column selection
   2. Method parameters
   3. Carrier gas choices
   4. Detector considerations
2. Modulator selection with a focus on current market options
   1. Thermal modulators
   2. Flow modulators
   3. Other commercial options
3. Method development made simple
4. Data preprocessing and initial handling

Part III (1.25 hr) Introduction to Multidimensional Liquid Chromatography

1. Modes of multidimensional separation commonly used with LC
   1. Heartcut
   2. Multiple heartcut / selective comprehensive
   3. Fully comprehensive
2. Interfaces used for multidimensional LC (i.e., the hardware that does the transfer from first to second dimension)
3. Common use cases of multidimensional LC illustrated using examples from industry and academic research
   1. Evaluating peak purity
   2. Unknown identification via multidimensional and MS or NMR detection
   3. Multi-stage separation with analyte transformation between stages
   4. Multi-attribute methods
   5. Making complete analysis of moderately complex samples attainable in a reasonable analysis time
   6. Digging deeper – comprehensive separations for comprehensive analysis
4. Introduction to method development strategies

Part IV (15 min) Wrap-up and Q&A

• Travel to University of Liege (30 min)
• Lunch (45 min)
• Part V (3 hours)  

Participants will have the opportunity to familiarize with a variety of GC and LC components used for multidimensional systems including:

• LC: Interface, valves, columns, acquisition software 
  GC: Detector components, inlet components, columns, cutting tools, column connectors, source components

Participants will have the opportunity to inject basic samples on a LECO Peg 4D and LECO Peg BT 4D CF system, and to interact with 2D LC software setup.

SHORT COURSE SPONSORS 2025

• Acesss

• Certech

MDCW 2025: Short Course Sponsors.

ARDS SPONSOR 2025

• SCSC

MDCW 2025: Award Sponsor.

MEDIA SPONSORS 2025

• LCGC International

• LabRulezGCMS

• LabRulezLCMS

MDCW: MEDIA SPONSORS - 16th Multidimensional Chromatography Workshop (MDCW)