SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM 44th ISCC

Significance of the topic

The 44th ISCC scientific program (May 19–22, 2026) assembles contemporary advances across separation science, detection technology and sample preparation with a clear emphasis on sustainability, miniaturization, and high-resolution molecular characterization. The meeting addresses pressing needs in environmental monitoring, food and fragrance analysis, bio/pharma quality control, and metabolomics, making it a crucible for methods that improve sensitivity, selectivity, throughput and ecological footprint of routine and research analyses.

Objectives and overview of the program

The program aims to: highlight frontier developments in capillary and nano-liquid chromatography, multidimensional separations (LC×LC, GC×GC, LC–GC), supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), hyphenated mass-spectrometry workflows, and miniaturized/greener sample preparation techniques; foster knowledge transfer between academia and industry via vendor seminars and demonstrations; and promote young scientists through dedicated sessions and awards. The conference mixes plenary award lectures, thematic sessions, vendor seminars, and poster presentations to provide both conceptual and practical coverage of method development, instrumentation and applied case studies.

Methodology and conference format

The content is delivered through invited lectures, short presentations by early-career researchers, vendor seminars, and poster sessions. Sessions are organized by thematic clusters (e.g., capillary GC/LC, multidimensional separations, miniaturized sample preparation, metabolomics, instrumentation, electromigration methods, contaminants and SFC). This structure facilitates targeted deep-dives and cross-disciplinary exposure. Emphasis is placed on real-world case studies (food, environmental, pharmaceutical, cultural heritage) and methodological transferability across column dimensions and instrument platforms.

Instrumentation Used

The program references a broad and contemporary set of analytical platforms and detectors, reflecting current instrumentation trends in separation science:

• Gas chromatography (single- and multidimensional GC×GC) with detectors: FID, TOF-MS, orbitrap HRMS, GC‑combustion‑MS, and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) detectors.
• Liquid chromatography variants: capillary/nano-HPLC, microbore-UHPLC, microfluidic and microchip LC, LC×LC and heart-cut 2D-SFC coupling.
• Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) including 2D SFC heart-cutting and chip-based SFC-MS or SFC-IMS.
• Hyphenated high-resolution mass spectrometry: QTOF, (Q)TOF, orbitrap HRMS, HR-ESI-MS/MS, GC–HRMS, LC–HRMS, and element-selective interfaces (GC‑combustion‑MS).
• Soft ionization and alternative ion sources: cold electron ionization (cold EI), dielectric barrier discharge soft ionization, atmospheric-pressure GC (APGC), liquid electron ionization and membrane/condensed-phase MIMS-LEI.
• Detectors and interfaces enhancing molecular ions: supersonic molecular beam interfaces and nanogravimetric detectors.
• Electromigration platforms: CE‑MS, cIEF‑MS, flow‑field flow fractionation and hollow-fiber FFF for nanoscale separations.
• Sampling and sample-prep devices: SPME, SBSE (new phases), thin-film microextraction, electromembrane extraction (EME), extractive‑liquid sampling E‑LEIMS, microextraction with functionalized beads, MOF-based films, monolithic capillary sorbents, and automated/online SPE workflows.
• Ancillary technologies: ion mobility, cold-on-column injections, GC–VUV, TD‑GC‑TOFMS for real-time air monitoring, and modular microfluidics for chip-based separation coupling.
• Vendors and instrumentation providers prominently represented: Agilent, Waters, Shimadzu, Restek, Merck, LECO, VUV Analytics, JEOL, Markes, Entech, Chromaleont, RIC Group and others.

Key topics and highlights (main outcomes and discussion points)

The program identifies several converging themes and technical insights:

• Green and sustainable analytics: broad interest in reducing solvent use (SFC, greener mobile phases, solventless sample prep like SPME and SBSE), metrics for greenness (GEDI), and discussions about making official methods more sustainable.
• Miniaturization and portability: capillary and nano‑LC, microfluidic chips, portable capillary liquid chromatography and airborne TD‑GC‑TOFMS for near‑real‑time VOC monitoring were highlighted as routes to fieldable, high-sensitivity analysis.
• Multidimensional separations and orthogonality: integrated LC×LC, LC–GC, LC×LC–MS and GC×GC workflows, and strategies to manage purity–yield trade-offs (e.g., semi-preparative 2D chromatography for oligonucleotides).
• Advances in detectors and ionization: improvements in molecular ion preservation (super­sonic beam, cold EI), soft ionization approaches for fragile analytes, GC‑combustion‑MS for heteroatom quantitation and GC‑VUV for hydrocarbon profiling.
• Transferability and modelling: QSRR strategies and modelling across column dimensions to improve retention prediction and method transfer were emphasized for robust method development.
• Sample preparation innovation: novel sorbent chemistries (nanofibers, click-chemistry functionalized phases, MOF mixed-matrix membranes) and automation (online SPE, centrifugal microextraction, automated dried plasma spot processing) aim to increase selectivity and throughput while cutting solvent/time costs.
• Data-centric methods: integration of machine learning and spectral databases for metabolomics, HR‑MS workflows for pesticide/fate studies, and SOMs for autonomous mixture summaries were discussed as essential to handle complex multi‑omics datasets.
• Application breadth: presented case studies span natural product profiling, food authenticity and safety (PFAS, siloxanes migration), forensic/biomedical monitoring (fentanyl, biomarkers, fetal exposure), cultural heritage VOC analysis, and environmental/air quality monitoring down to ppt levels.

Benefits and practical applications

The conference program emphasizes method improvements with direct practical outcomes:

• Enhanced sensitivity and selectivity enable trace-level monitoring of contaminants (PFAS, pesticides, MOSH/MOAH, VOCs) in regulatory and quality-control settings.
• Greener workflows reduce solvent consumption and hazardous reagents, facilitating compliance with sustainability goals in routine laboratories.
• Miniaturized and automated sample-preparation approaches increase throughput and reproducibility while lowering sample and reagent volumes—beneficial for clinical, pharma and high-throughput food testing labs.
• Multidimensional separations paired with HRMS support exhaustive chemical characterization for complex matrices (bio‑oils, edible oils, oligonucleotides, packaging migrants), improving risk assessment and product development.
• Field-deployable and real-time platforms broaden environmental and occupational monitoring capabilities, enabling responsive decision-making.

Future trends and applications

Projected directions showcased during the program include:

• Deeper integration of microfluidics and modular chip‑based separations with MS and IMS for compact, high-throughput analytical systems.
• Wider adoption of greener chromatographic systems (SFC, bio‑solvents) and solventless extraction to meet sustainability targets in regulated testing.
• Expansion of soft‑ionization and HRMS techniques for non-targeted profiling, supported by richer spectral libraries and AI-driven annotation pipelines.
• Further miniaturization of detectors and column hardware (micro/nano columns, inert low-dead-volume fittings) to push limits of sensitivity while preserving robustness.
• Standardization and validated transferability of QSRR and method transfer workflows across instrument platforms to shorten method validation timelines.
• Growing use of autonomous data analysis (machine learning, self-organizing maps) to accelerate interpretation of multidimensional datasets in metabolomics, environmental forensics, and quality control.

Conclusion

The 44th ISCC program presents a coherent vision: analytical chemistry is moving toward greener, smaller, and more information‑rich workflows. Advances in multidimensional separations, detector interfaces, miniaturized sample preparation and data science are converging to deliver higher confidence chemical characterization across sectors. Practical emphasis on method transferability, automation, and sustainability positions these developments for relatively rapid adoption in regulated and industrial laboratories.

References

No bibliographic references were provided in the program text. The summary is based on the session titles, lecture abstracts (as indicated in the schedule), vendor seminars and presenter affiliations listed in the official 44th ISCC scientific program.