At the renowned HPLC2025 conference, a milestone in the field of separation science was celebrated with the official launch of Analytical Separation Science, a comprehensive new textbook authored by Dr. Bob Pirok and Prof. Peter Schoenmakers. The launch event, held on June 16 at the Historium Bruges and organized by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), brought together leading scientists and educators in the field.
The first official copy was presented to Prof. Govert Somsen of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, a long-time colleague and co-educator in analytical chemistry.
Structured around Basic, Master, and Advanced modules, the book serves both as a teaching tool and as a professional reference. It introduces fundamental concepts, offers in-depth treatments for graduate-level study, and explores cutting-edge developments in chromatographic and electrophoretic techniques.
“This book reflects our shared commitment to educating the next generation of analytical scientists,” said Prof. Peter Schoenmakers. “By combining foundational theory with real-world case studies and emerging methods, we aim to make separation science engaging and relevant across career stages.”
Figure 1. Cover of the book.
An interactive companion website (https://ass-ets.org) extends the book’s reach. It offers additional resources including a literature repository, academic lectures with interactive figures, and exercises based on decades of teaching experience at the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
The website is a community based effort with universities to be supporting their expertise to complete the analytical portfolio as much as possible.
Figure 2. Prof. Wolfgang Lindner (University of Vienna) and Prof. Peter Schoenmakers (University of Amsterdam) draw the winners of the book competition.
“Our goal was to make learning separation science both accessible and inspiring,” added Dr. Bob Pirok. “This project combines our classroom experience with insights from industry collaborations, bridging education and practice.”
Figure 3. Photograph from the launch event.
Conference participants were able to win a copy of the book by solving a series of puzzles and Prof. Wolfgang Lindner (University of Vienna) and Prof. Schoenmakers (University of Amsterdam) drew the five winners from the entries.
The book is now available at the Royal Society of Chemistry or any other book vendor.
