The GC & GC-MS Clinic

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Course summary

  • Duration: 2 days for face-to-face | Total of 13 hours for Virtual Classroom course
  • Experience level: Advanced
  • Course type: Universal, applicable to all instrumentation
  • Teaching method: Face-to-face OR online via live video, with case studies to solve & chromatograms to troubleshoot
  • RSC CPD approval: Approved for CPD
  • Scheduled course venue: The Open University | Other venues | Virtual Classroom
  • Online/onsite/in-house/offsite availability: Arrange this course just for you
  • On-Demand availability: Available
  • Scheduled course price: £750 + VAT per delegate
  • Course discount: RSC and CAMS members receive a discount on this course*

Course approval

Royal Society of Chemistry approved training logo

This course has been approved by the Royal Society of Chemistry for purposes of Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

The GC & GC-MS Clinic is often taken as a follow-on course from the Practical Essentials of GC & GC-MS, either consecutively or at a later stage, and together they form the Complete GC & GC-MS course.

What will you learn on this course?

This course looks at how to choose the GC & GC-MS techniques for an application, set-up the instrument, how to develop & optimise methods and then finally how to maintain & troubleshoot the instrument, techniques and method.

This advanced course also takes a brief look at advanced techniques to help solve those very tricky or complex applications including Selective Discrimination, Deconvolution, Mass Spectral Interpretation, Two-Dimensional GC (GC+GC & GCxGC) and Chemometrics.

Learning outcomes

  • You will learn strategies for GC & GC-MS method development.
  • You will learn about system optimisation and configuration for GC and GC-MS.
  • You will get an introduction to GC & MS advanced techniques
  • You will learn to recognise areas requiring maintenance on the instrument.
  • You will learn the logical steps of instrument troubleshooting.
  • You will troubleshoot problematic chromatograms.

Who is this course for?

If you have reasonable gas chromatography experience or have attended the Practical Essentials of GC & GC-MS or the Complete Hands-on GC & GC-MS courses then please join us for this advanced training.

If you would like to improve your knowledge in a particular area, you can choose to attend individual days from The GC & GC-MS Clinic course.

Individual Modules - Virtual Classroom training

For Virtual Classroom training, you can choose to attend the individual modules from this course:

How to book this course


Feedback from previous attendees of our Virtual Classroom course

"Fantastic courses, well presented and explained."  May 2022.

"Great overview of method development and covers a wide range of parameters. Separation of analytes of most interest."  May 2022.

"For me it was being able to consult with Diane Turner some real issues and concerns in terms of method development. Having them answered and thoroughly discussed was definitely worth the time and money invested. I also appreciated the bits and pieces of information/tips that were very useful for the work that I am doing."  February 2021.

"(I enjoyed) the troubleshooting exercises and applying the knowledge learnt to a real problem."  February 2021.

"Great presentation with lots of opportunities to ask questions. This has more than met my expectations."  February 2021.

"Course content was very interesting and relevant to anyone hoping to expand their GC-MS knowledge.
Lots to learn and apply to all different types of analysis. High standard of knowledge and how things should be done!"
  October 2020.

"Being able to hear from an expert in the field and see some practical examples. I was given a lot of base knowledge and loads of helpful tips that I would never have thought about."   Hollie Gillespie, QC Lab Analyst, NextGEN360 (Module 11: Applied GC & GC-MS Maintenance, May 2020).

"It was good to be able to have an outline of how to deal with problems when they first appear. Lots of useful tips were included alongside the more basic information. [Most useful topic:] Chromatogram Troubleshooting. It was really useful to be able to apply the knowledge given in the training and see some real examples."  Hollie Gillespie, QC Lab Analyst, NextGEN360 (Module 12: Applied Troubleshooting for GC & GC-MS, May 2020).

Feedback from previous attendees of our Face-to-Face course

"I liked the way our instructor tell us about GC, giving some examples, visiting laboratory."  Aleksandra Churkina, Chemist Analytical, BIOCAD, Russia (April 2019).

"Very informative and interactive. Friendly and very knowledgeable presenters."  Keith Smith (January 2018).

"Picking up hints and tips, increase my awareness of some of the topics. (Anthias Consulting) have the best knowledge for GC-MS techniques for use on Agilent instruments."  David Saunders, Laboratory Chemist, Si Group UK (October 2016).

"Very good, well done. I'd recommend it."  3rd Year PhD Student, Environmental Engineering.

"I thought the info given was fantastic. Covered a wide range of things that I didn't even know were associated with GC. Diane presented very well and clearly and her knowledge on the subject is fantastic."  Laboratory Technician, Geosciences.

"Very well organised and friendly. I had no idea there was so much to GC. A list of what all the acronyms mean would be very useful. Thank you."  Research Fellow, Separation Sciences.

"It is a very useful course".  Post-Graduate Researcher, Newcastle University.

"Excellent if already using GC or GC/MS to increase knowledge and help to identify problems with instrumentation already using.  Particularly good information on troubleshooting and useful diagrams to visualise the whole instrumentation that is not considered by users."  Caroline Smith, Analyst, LGC Forensics.

"Notes are very good." Anonymous.

"The troubleshooting and maintenance section was very useful in helping me understand everything that I had been taught throughout the course.  It would be helpful if you have a GC-MS as there is a lot of MS information in the course and I don't have a MS attached."  Jean Ellis, Laboratory Technician, Liverpool University.