From Wednesday, November 13 and until next Friday, in Neomundo, several congresses of relevance for research and science are being held by the UIS, the National University and the University of Caldas: XI Colombian Congress of Chromatography, XIX Latin American Congress of Chromatography and Related Techniques, III Pan-American Symposium on Essential Oils, XXVI International Symposium on Advances in Extraction Technologies, XVI Latin American Symposium on Environmental Analytical Chemistry, and the Workshop on Recent Advances in Sample Preparation. This was announced by Elena Stashenko, professor and researcher at the UIS.
“Here in Bucaramanga we are doing something incredible. There are six congresses at the same time. Congresses dedicated to chemistry, analytical and environmental studies, chromatography, spectrometry and others, sample preparation, environmental analysis and a congress dedicated especially to natural products, essential oils and aromatic plants. This is incredible because we have national and Latin American congresses for the participants”.
Nearly 300 guests from different countries and continents are part of the event, which will feature conferences, seminars and stands with the latest technology on the different topics covered in the congresses.
But what is chromatography and why is it so important for science and research? “It is one of the techniques that has been around for more than 100 years, together with spectrometry and so on, it is the basic tool for analyzing different extracts, different mixtures. It is really one of the main analysis techniques in the field of proteins, natural products, medicines, pharmacological industry. In fact, it is transversal in all areas of the sector”.
Regarding chromatography, UIS, according to Professor Elena added, is one of the reference universities in the areas of environmental analysis since it has several very powerful research groups that use these techniques, both in chemistry, biology, chemical engineering, petroleum engineering…”.
Diana Cristina Sinuco León, associate professor of the Department of Chemistry of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and president of the Colombian Society of Chemical Sciences, said that three major institutions are involved in this congress: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad Industrial de Santander and Universidad de Caldas, and as sponsor and organizer of the event, the Colombian Society of Chemical Sciences. The Professional Council of Chemistry and other sponsors also participate and support the event by presenting their elements and products in a commercial exhibition.
For Sinuco, the importance of chromatography in science and research lies in the fact that “basically without chromatography we would not know the composition of substances. All matter needs to be separated to be analyzed in what and how much of different components are part of it. Thanks to chromatography we can know every day, for example, what we eat, in what proportions are the carbohydrates, the caffeine, the different chemical compounds that make up the matter and therefore give it an added value and know what to use them for”. In other words, the congresses being held this week in Neomundo are of great scientific importance for the region and the country.
Precisely, both speakers and attendees stressed the importance of this type of event.
“The importance for me is the meeting with different professors who are in charge of teaching new techniques and advances in chemistry and especially chromatography. Meeting with those professors and that we can be face to face with them and ask them the necessary questions that usually a paper does not answer us”: Kelly Giovanna Huelva Lozano, PhD student in science and chemical adhesion.
“This type of event is of great importance especially in science education, for us as students it is very important this disclosure because it helps us to be aware of what is being studied and advance in this. The part of the stand is very important to know the advances of these companies and what they are offering us to improve our analysis day by day”, José David Mendoza, student of the National University.
These 2024 Congresses are an important space for the presentation and discussion of scientific advances, knowledge exchange, scientific collaboration and strengthening of professional networks in the areas of analyte separation and detection sciences, environmental analytical chemistry, emerging contaminants, toxicology, forensic sciences, extraction technologies and new methods of sample preparation, food chemistry, natural products, essential oils and other diverse applications involving chromatographic techniques, mass spectrometry, new materials and detection systems, and related disciplines.
Instrumental analytical chemistry topics are fundamental to address the challenges of sustainable development, climate change and technologies based on green chemistry and new sources of clean and environmentally friendly energy.
The UIS is the host, fulfilling its commitment to academic excellence and promotion of basic and applied scientific research in Colombia and Latin America.
