Anal Bioanal Chem (2005) 382: 243–244 DOI 10.1007/s00216-005-3238-9

E D I T ORI AL

Jesu´s Herna´ndez Me´ndez Æ Jose´ Luis Pe´rez Pavo´n

Euroanalysis XIII The European Conference on Analytical Chemistry

Published online: 14 May 2005 Ó Springer-Verlag 2005

From 5–10 September 2004, Salamanca hosted Euroanalysis XIII (European Conference on Analytical Chemistry). The Conference was of special significance and relevance to the Spanish analytical community, since this was the first time it had been held in our country despite our most enthusiastic attempts to attract the venue and despite having demonstrated, some time ago, that the analytical chemistry conducted south of the Pyrenees is indeed European-level analytical chemistry. Sometimes choice depends more on circumstances other than objective data or merit. Thus, in 2000, perhaps because the circumstances were more favourable, the Spanish Society for Analytical Chemistry encouraged the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the Federation of European Chemical Societies to approve a venue for Euroanalysis XIII in Spain, in particular in the University City of Salamanca and under the responsibility of the department of Analytical Chemistry of our University. The challenge was thus serious for all: we had to ensure that the first Euroanalysis meeting organised by Spanish analysts would not disappoint those attending, and that there would be a sufficient level of organisation, participation and scientific quality. We feel that it would not be too immodest to say that, due to all of our hard work, those aims were more than met. In the end, the attendance surpassed all our expectations; from an optimistic estimate of 600–650 participating scientists, we received a final number of 819 scientists from 45 countries. As expected, most participants were from Spain, the hosting country, as is usual in this type of Conference, but the fact that many of the participants were relatively young was also of special interest. Another encouraging aspect was the attendance by scientists from non-European countries—Thailand, J. Herna´ndez Me´ndez Æ J. L. Pe´rez Pavo´n (&) Departamento de Quı´ mica Analı´ tica, Facultad de Quı´ mica, Nutricio´n y Bromatologı´ a, Plaza de la Merced s/n, 3708 Salamanca, Spain E-mail: [email protected]

South Africa, China, and so on—and from eastern European countries such as Slovakia, Slovenia, Russia, Croatia, and Romania. In the scientific program, which was organised under the supervision of Professor Jose´ Manuel Pingarro´n, the number of communications was also far greater than our expectations. A total of 762 communications were presented (10 Plenary Lectures, 68 Keynote Lectures, 126 Oral Communications and 636 Posters), distributed through several symposia, oral sessions and poster sessions addressing different topics in analytical chemistry. The short courses run during the weekend prior to the Conference and dedicated to the youngest researchers deserve a special mention (we find ourselves asking ‘‘why the youngest ones?’’). Seven short courses were run (lasting 4 h) in which the participants touched on issues that were highly specialised and of maximum current interest. The courses were given by specialists of scientific importance in each of the topics explored. And, since business must naturally be mixed with pleasure, the scientific program was interlaced with a series of social events, attempting (and we feel successfully so) to enable people to socialise outside of strictly scientific areas; from the ‘Get Together’ in the patio of the Colegio Fonseca, to the closing dinner in the pleasant surroundings of the Hotel Alameda (with our friendly local magician included), to the String Concert in the Clerecı´a church, the free afternoon excursions on Wednesday, and the wine offered in the most noble part of the University: the Escuelas Menores (by the way, the firework display that took place down by the River Tormes at the end of our small but agreeable gathering was not courtesy of our organisation, but was the result of a simple, though spectacular, coincidence with the local Fiestas!). This special issue of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (ABC) collects together a small proportion (42 articles out of 762 communications) of the analytical science presented at Euroanalysis XIII. If a workshop about a specific topic is of undoubted interest to specialists in the field, a multidisciplinary Congress such as

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Euroanalysis, aside from in the specific area of research of each participant, certainly offers the opportunity to become better acquainted with other hot lines of research and to meet colleagues who work in fields of enquiry other than our own. Multidisciplinary contributions representative of the Conference and of undoubted interest can be found in this issue. In any case, however, the authors have been free to decide which works should be sent for publication in this issue. And, as indeed it must, the peer review system and the physical limit of the number of articles has also dictated the final content of this issue of ABC. Finally, we should like to thank those responsible for the efforts and collaboration—individuals, institutions and businesses—who made the Conference possible and who played an important part in the success it garnered. It does not seem pertinent to mention all of them explicitly, but we feel that special thanks should be given to the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the EuChemMS and the Spanish Society for Analytical Chemistry. Our sincerest thanks must also be expressed to all of the researchers who visited Salamanca—above all the youngest, most enthusiastic participants: they were indeed the life and soul of the Conference and without them Euroanalysis XIII would probably not have been possible. Thanks are due, finally, to the city of Salamanca and its University, which always make these events easier to run, and to Springer for their efforts and their dedication in making this issue a top-ranking publication.

J. Herna´ndez Me´ndez is Full Professor at the University of Salamanca and he was Vice Chancellor for Research from 1994 to 2002. He has participated in several meetings and commissions aimed at improving research at Spanish centres. His research interests include the development of analytical methods in the fields of food quality assessment and environmental pollution control.

J. L. Pe´rez Pavo´n is Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the University of Salamanca. His research interests include sample preparation and chromatographic techniques. Over the last few years he has been involved in the development of fast characterisation methods based on headspace mass spectrometry and chemometric techniques.