Education in Analytical Chemistry, Reliability and Quality Assurance

Abstract

The reliability of quality assurance systems in industrial production or in environmental control depends largely on widely accepted, high level standards of education and training of the persons involved – besides the availability of up-todate and well kept technical equipment and software. This is of special importance in Analytical Chemistry with its increasingly complex and highly diversified chemical and physical methods of information generation on material systems. The Division of Analytical Chemistry (DAC – formerly WPAC) of the Federation of European Chemical Societies (FECS) has therefore identified the topics “Education” and “Quality Assurance” as subject of highest priority since the very beginning of its activities in 1972. It is only now, however, after the economic unification in Europe was more broadly established in the 90’ies, that analytical education and quality assurance systems become compatible at an international level for the first time. The EUROCURRICULUM Analytical Chemistry of the DAC/ FECS – unanimously accepted in 1992 – meets the needs of both university studens exchange as stimulated by the EU through the ERASMUS/SOCRATES programme and the international activities in analytical quality assurance. The EUROCURRICULUM Analytical Chemistry combines both strict recommendations for the basic part of the academic studies – to provide for a common language needed in modern teamwork and industrial problem solving – and freedom of choice of selected topics in the advanced and post-graduate parts [for details see Fres. J. Anal. Chem. (Dec. 1996) and Anal. Chem. 1994, 66, 98A]. The worldwide dissemination of the DAC-EUROCURRICULUM will be supported by the appearance of a new standard textbook “Analytical Chemistry” for undergraduate students to be published in 1997 in English by VCH-publishers (R. Kellner, M. Otto, J.-M. Mermet, H. M. Widmer, eds.). The textbook is aimed at satisfying the high demands of today’s careful science education and clearly comprises besides all important classical and modern techniques also comprehensive chapters on Quality Assurance in Analytical Chemistry (by E. A. Maier and B. Griepink) and Chemometrics (by M. Otto and W. Wegscheider). As pronounced in a special session on Education in Analytical Chemistry at the recent EUROANALYSIS IX-conference on September 3, 1996 in Bologna, where also representatives from CITAC (B. King), EURACHEM (B. Neidhart), the USA (J. G. Grasselli), Japan (K. Fuwa), FECS (L. Niinisto) and IUPAC (Y. Marcus) took part: The time is ripe for a worldwide quality initiative in Education in Analytical Chemistry for the support of international quality assurance! Let’s pool our efforts for the benefit of the quality of our life and our common future! If we don’t shape the future, the future will shape us . . .