PART 2 of 2 // ON SITE PHASE 

This part will be hands-on and dedicated to sample and LC-HRMS preparation for analysis. Researchers will interact with the LC-HRMS system at Centro de Ciências do Mar Algarve (CCMAR). Additionally, succesful applicants will have the opportunity to bring sample extracts for analysis on-site in correspondance with the course organisers. This part will take place from the 19th to the 21st of October 2026. While lunch will be provided for the days of the course, the course organizers are not responsible for travel/accommodation arrangements and participants are expected to take care of this independently.

1 – Marine biotoxins.

a) Quantification of lipophilic EU regulated marine biotoxins okadaic acid (OA), Dinophysistoxin-1 (DTX-1) and Dinophysistoxin-2 (DTX-2) in mussels.

b) Quantification of the emergent marine biotoxins: tetrodotoxin (TTX).

RP-18 versus HILIC separation.
MRM versus Full scan-high resolution for quantification.
Standard addition calibration.
Validation.

2 – Microplastics products and additives.

a) Annotation and identification of polystyrene and tire rubber degradation products and additives.

Data dependent LC-HRMS
Method parameters
Annotation sources
Identification

Target Audience

• Early Career Researchers, MSc students, PhD candidates, and postdoctoral researchers seeking to identify and/or quantify organic molecules.
• Research Infrastructure staff, technicians and facility managers seeking training in LC-HRMS.
• Industry professionals and entrepreneurs requiring identification and/or monitoring of key organic molecules.
• Senior researchers and group leaders seeking to expand their workflows.
• Transnational Access (TNA) users of the AQUASERV and other projects seeking for inclusion of LC-HRMS on their proposals.

Learning Objectives

• To understand the fundamentals of liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS)
• To recognize and understand the main components of a mass spectrometer
• To understand basic concepts and practical aspects of ion formation in mass spectrometry
• To understand the fundamentals of tandem mass spectrometry (MSn)
• To explore the fundamentals of mass spectrometry data interpretation
• To explore the principles of structure annotation based on mass spectral data and mass spectral library search
• To explore the principles of quantitative analysis in LC-HRMS
• To acquire basic knowledge to use the technology in marine sciences and other research fields.
• To get used to common data-handling workflows in target and nontarget analysis

Course Instructors

• José Paulo da Silva, CCMAR, Portugal
• Juan Francisco Ayala-Cabrera, EHU, Spain
• Iker Alvarez Mora, EHU, Spain
• Nestor Etxebarria Loizate, EHU, Spain

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the learner is expected to be able to:

• Critically select the most appropriate analytical conditions (chromatographic column, ionization source, polarity, etc) considering the structure of the target analytes
• Design the most appropriate tandem mass spectrometry experiment to obtain the structural information required
• Critically select the most appropriate LC-HRMS data acquisition mode to solve a research question
• Fully understand and use of mass spectrometry data (mass spectral data interpretation) to estimate elemental composition, to identify functional groups, and to annotate chemical structures using mass spectral library search.
• Fully understand quantitative/confirmatory analysis using mass spectrometry
   

Transferable Skills

• Information Technology: Advances in mass spectrometry instrumentation and mass spectrometry database search (as mzCloud).
• Communication: Communication with use of mass spectrometry terminology.