The STARSS project team (Specialized Team for Advanced Research on Separation Science) organized the 3rd STARSS Conference on Separation Science in Nové Adalbertinum in Hradec Králové on November 25 - 26, 2019.
Prof. Petr Solich and Prof. František Švec welcomed the participants and opened the conference with up-to-date information about the current status of the project. Then, the program continued with lectures of invited renowned foreign scientists: Prof. Sebastiaan Eeltink, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, Dr. Koen Sandra, Research Institute for Chromatography, Kortrijk, Belgium, Assoc. Prof. Debby Mangelings, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, Prof. Börje Sellergren, Malmo University, Malmo, Sweden, Prof. Michael Lämmerhofer, Eberhard-Karls University Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany, Prof. Manuel Miró, University of Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Assoc. Prof. Egon Erwin Rosenberg, Vienna University of Technology / Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria; as well as leading scientists working in the Czech Republic - Assoc. Prof. Petr Česla, University of Pardubice, Assoc. Prof. David Friedecký, Palacký University Olomouc, Assoc. Prof. Jiří Urban, Masaryk University, Brno; and members of the STARSS project team - Assoc. Prof. Lucie Nováková, Dr. Juraj Lenčo, Dr. Ivona Lhotská, Dr. Ivana Horstkotte Šrámková, Dr. Maria Khalikova, and other experts and academics. Altogether 23 scientific lectures were presented, which stimulated a rich discussion that continued during breaks and social evening.
The conference also included two workshops. Dr. Veronika Pilařová prepared a workshop on “Supercritical fluid extraction for the isolation of natural compounds” during which she introduced the development of the extraction method and then practically showed the automated extraction of biologically active substances from plant samples. Dr. Burkhard Horstkotte, Dr. David J. Cocovi-Solberg (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences of Vienna, Austria) and Assoc. Prof. Petr Chocholouš prepared a workshop on "3D printing - from the idea to the object, a practical demonstration" where they presented, discussed and then practically demonstrated the possibilities and use of several technologies of modern 3D printing for research and development of new analytical methods and analytical instruments.
The conference was attended by more than 60 experts from Czech and from foreign institutions.
The conference helped to fulfill the aims of the STARSS project - excellence in separation science, broadening the awareness of the STARSS working group and the Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University, as well as sharing a knowledge between experienced and young scientists.
This conference is supported by the STARSS project (Reg. No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000465) co-funded by the European Union.
Text: PharmDr. Veronika Pilařová, Ph.D. and doc. PharmDr. Petr Chocholouš, Ph.D.
Photo: doc. PharmDr. Petr Chocholouš, Ph.D.