Complete GC and GC-MS

  • Duration: 5 days for live courses 32.50 hours for on-demand
  • Experience level: Intermediate
  • Delivery methods: Face-to-face | Offsite training & consultancy | On-Demand | Online | Onsite training & consultancy | Tailored training |
  • Type of course: Universal
  • Applicable to manufacturer(s): Agilent | Bruker | CDS Analytical | CTC | Frontier | GERSTEL | GLSciences | Leco | OI Analytical | PerkinElmer | Pyrolab | Scion | Shimadzu | SRI | Thermo | Varian | Waters |
  • CPD Approved: Approved
  • Scheduled course price: £1,875.00 + TAX per delegate
  • Course discounts: RSC CAMS HEaTED Cambridge Network TSN members receive a discount on this course
Date
Course Title
Delivery method
Location
Cost + 20% TAX
Booking
01/06/2026 - 05/06/2026
Online
Virtual classroom
£1875.00
16/11/2026 - 20/11/2026
Face-to-face
Milton Keynes, UK
£1875.00

Your complete guide to gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry (MS) (GC-MS)

Learn everything you ever need to know about gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), with this 5-day classroom-based course for professionals, students and chemists, approved by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for Continuing Professional Development (CPD). This complete analytical chemistry course combines the intermediate Practical Essentials of GC and GC-MS with the more advanced GC and GC-MS clinic, to provide a complete training course enabling you to understand your GC and GC-MS instruments, develop methods, maintain and troubleshoot them. Alongside diagrams, animations and examples from different industries, improve your understanding further with the opportunity to handle (see, in virtual courses) GC and GC-MS instrument parts and consumables such as an MS quadrupole, ion source and detector and, a GC analytical column, liners and septa.

This course covers all the practical theory you need to know about GC and its related techniques including GC-MS, from both the chemistry and physical perspectives, covering the instrument modules from autosamplers for automated sampling and sample preparation through to data analysis. This course also looks at how to choose the GC & GC-MS techniques for an application, set-up the instrument, develop & optimise the methods and then finally how to maintain & troubleshoot the instrumentation. Also, the course takes a brief look at advanced GC and GC-MS techniques to help solve those very tricky applications in analytical laboratories.

Why should I join Complete GC and GC-MS?

At the end of this course, you will have a complete understanding of GC and GC-MS techniques and, be able to confidently apply all aspects studied on this course to your own laboratory and analytical work.

 

This complete GC & GC-MS course gives you:

  • A complete understanding of the instrumentation used in GC and GC-MS from the gases and plumbing, through to the PC for data analysis
  • Clear insights and explanations into GC and GC-MS components such as analytical columns, various detectors and mass spectrometers
  • Understanding of basic data analysis from the use and interpretation of chromatograms to mass spectra
  • Familiarity with basic sample preparation techniques including thermal desorption (TD), solid phase extraction (SPE) and pyrolysis
  • A solid understanding of GC and GC-MS method development, alongside maintenance and troubleshooting common problems

This is your opportunity to gain a complete understanding of two of the most widely used analytical science techniques, GC and GC-MS, in modern laboratories.

What would I learn on Complete GC and GC-MS?

This intermediate to advanced level course will provide all-round knowledge, covering the practical theory of GC and GC-MS, you will learn the:

  • Importance of good chromatography and, how the stationary and mobile phases work
  • How to select and use a GC carrier gas at its optimum
  • Various GC injection methods, including split, splitless, large volume and cool on-column
  • Distinctive types of columns available for GC and GC-MS
  • Different selective and universal detectors such as electron capture detectors (ECDs) and flame ionisation detectors (FIDs)
  • Discover the different mass spectrometers that can be hyphenated to GC from single quadrupoles (SQMS) to magnetic sector MS
  • Common sampling techniques used for GC and GC-MS analysis such as liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), headspace (HS) and solid phase microextraction (SPME)
  • How to develop GC and GC-MS methods then put into practice with a classroom-based exercise
  • An introduction to advanced GC and GC-MS techniques such as selective discrimination, multidimensional GC, mass spectral interpretation and chemometrics
  • Develop a solid understanding of GC and GC-MS maintenance and troubleshooting and put into practice with exercises examining chromatograms to identify and solve problems

What knowledge will I gain on Complete GC and GC-MS?

By the end of the course, you will:

  • Have complete knowledge of the principles and concepts of GC and GC-MS, looking at both the carrier gas and sample flow paths
  • Confidently understand the GC mobile phase and the optimal flow rates
  • Comprehend how to choose the sample introduction system, the inlet type and technique, to avoid problems with difficult samples
  • Know how an analytical column works and how to match the phase to the chemical and physical properties of your analytes
  • Understand the many types of GC detectors used in GC and GC-MS, including thermal conductivity detectors (TCDs), chemiluminescent detectors and photo ionisation detectors (PIDs)
  • Know the differences between high resolution (HRMS) and tandem (MS/MS) mass spectrometry and the different mass analysers such as Time of Flight (ToFMS) and OrbitrapTM MS
  • Be familiar with the common ionisation processes in GC-MS including electron (EI) and chemical ionisation principles
  • Grasp both qualitative and quantitative data analysis processes, learning integration, choosing internal standards and how library searches work
  • Know the strategy for developing a robust GC or GC-MS method, how to monitor the method performance and prepare the method for validation
  • Have basic knowledge of advanced GC and GC-MS techniques, including fast GC, deconvolution, heart-cutting (GC+GC) and comprehensive 2D GC (GCxGC)
  • Understand common maintenance required on GC and GC-MS instrumentation, including checking syringes, replacing inlet seals, GC column care, MS tuning and how to look after your PC
  • Understand how to troubleshoot common issues with GC and GC-MS, examining frequent problem as such as gases and plumbing, autosampler issues, analytical column problems, GC and GC-MS system leaks and how to troubleshoot contamination that could come from various sources.

Is this course for me?

This training is designed for anyone with basic knowledge who would like to take this to a higher level and learn the full extent of GC and GC-MS instrumentation and applications, including:

  • Laboratory analysts & technicians wanting clear, structured, in-depth training or a refresher on these techniques
  • Laboratory or line managers overseeing GC and GC-MS instruments and analysis
  • Data analysts and report writers who interpret results but do not use the instruments
  • Service and consultant engineers who need a chemistry-focused viewpoint
  • Sales, marketing, or commercial teams working with GC and GC-MS systems, consumables, data, or laboratory services who would like a complete, in-depth perspective

If GC or GC-MS touches your work in any way, this well-planned RSC CPD approved course delivered by experts in the field equips you to understand the science behind these techniques.

Course combinations

If you don’t have time to attend the full course all at once, you can learn about the techniques in the Practical Essentials course, go back to the lab to implement the knowledge and then join us at a later date to attend the more advanced GC & GC-MS Clinic course. With Virtual Classroom training, you can choose to attend individual modules, to improve your knowledge in a particular area.

What's next?