Almost for the whole year of 2020, the epidemiological restrictions connected with COVID-19 extremely decreased the number of scientific conferences and meetings worldwide, thus limited the exchange of scientific information. Nevertheless, the STARSS project team (Specialized Team for Advanced Research on Separation Science) decided to continue the tradition and organize the 4th STARSS Conference on Separation Science on November 30 – December 1, 2020, in the online format. The scientific program was compiled in cooperation with members of the European Chemistry Society, Division of Analytical Chemistry Sample Preparation Study Group and Network (EuChemS-DAC).
Prof. František Švec and Prof. Petr Solich welcomed the participants and opened the conference with up-to-date information about the current status of the project. Then, Prof. Elia Psillakis (Technical University of Crete, Greece) introduced the EuChemS-DAC, the scientific partner of the conference. The list of invited speakers was again full of renowned scientists: Prof. Janusz Pawliszyn, University of Waterloo, Canada; Dr. Davy Guillarme, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Prof Dr. Barbara Bojko, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland; Dr. Ezel Boyaci, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey; Prof. Ken Broeckhoven, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium; Manuel Miró, University of Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Prof. Sibel A. Özkan, Ankara University, Turkey; Prof. Elia Psillakis, Technical University of Crete, Greece; Prof. Marcela Segundo, University of Porto, Portugal; Prof. Charlotta Turner, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; as well as members of the STARSS project Assoc. Prof. Dalibor Šatínský and Assoc. Prof. Petr Chocholouš. Altogether 13 scientific lectures were presented and during two slots followed a rich discussion on "sample preparation", the main topic of this year's conference.
The online conference was attended by more than 120 participants of 17 nationalities from 43 institutions.
The conference helped fulfill the aims of the STARSS project – building the team of excellence in separation sciences, broadening the awareness of the STARSS working group and the Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University, and sharing knowledge between experienced and young scientists.
This conference was 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: doc. PharmDr. Petr Chocholouš, Ph.D.