The objective is to give technicians, scientists, engineers and postgraduate students in analytical chemistry enjoying a good scientific background and professional experience in the field of residue analysis, the opportunity to:

• Improve their knowledge of analytical chemistry and especially of the methodology applied to the control of residues and contaminants in food.
• Be trained on hyphenated techniques involving gas and liquid chromatography coupled to sophisticated detectors, such as mass spectrometers.
• Learn and put into practice examples of efficient methods applied in most European laboratories for the control of residues and contaminants in food.
• Get a better knowledge of the general regulation regarding residues and contaminants in food.
• Increase their knowledge of quality assurance applied to assays and method development.
• Create their own network for further technical and scientific cooperation.

An initial education period of 2 weeks in Nantes (typically yearly in October) consisting in theoretical and practical sessions covering the following aspects:

• General regulation concerning residues and contaminants in food, extraction and purification techniques, screening and confirmatory analytical methods, gas and liquid chromatography with hyphenated detectors such as mass spectrometry, practical work on sophisticated methods used in some EU laboratories, quality assurance applied to assays and method development.

Complementary training periods of 2-6 weeks to be arranged in one of the partner laboratories:

• The programme of these trainings is established and customised for each participant on the basis of his/her specific needs. They are basically intended to improve the participant’s knowledge of one specific analytical method and/or analyte family and/or analytical technique.