The OPCW Technical Secretariat (hereinafter “the Secretariat”) wishes to inform Member States that it will hold an analytical skills development course (ASDC) at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad, India from 25 November to 6 December 2019.
Aim
The aims of the course are to: assist qualified analytical chemists from Member States with economies that are developing or in transition in acquiring further experience and practical knowledge; facilitate the analysis of chemicals related to national implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (hereinafter “the Convention”); enhance national capacities in these Member States by offering training in analytical chemistry to personnel from industry, academic institutions, and government laboratories; facilitate the adoption of good laboratory practices; and broaden the pool of human resources from which National Authorities and the Secretariat can draw in the future.
Content
The ASDC will have two parts:
- The first week will focus on basic training and gaining hands-on experience in gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Participants will receive theoretical and practical training in GC and GC-MS, covering hardware, system validation and optimisation, and troubleshooting.
- The second week will focus on the preparation of environmental samples and GC and GC-MS analyses of such samples for chemicals related to the Convention. During this week, participants will be provided with intensive hands-on training in the preparation of different sample matrices for subsequent analysis by GC with element-selective detectors and by GC-MS in electron-impact and chemical-ionisation modes. Participants will also be introduced to a range of extraction, clean-up, and derivatisation procedures.