The Story of the Societé Française de Spectrométrie de Masse (SFSM)

Abstract

In France, until the middle of the 80s, a small group of mass spectrometrists (essentially gas-phase chromatographers using mass spectrometers as detectors) was part of a wider association (GAMS: Groupement pour l’Avancement des Methodes Spectroscopiques) gathering scientists from Industry and Universities interested in spectroscopic methods. At that time, mass spectrometry was expanding rapidly (marketing of tandem instruments, first applications of mass spectrometry in biology, pharmacology and medicine, development of desorption techniques in bio-medical and pharmaceutical research, combination of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry) and numerous industrial and academic laboratories acquired mass spectrometers. To promote mass spectrometry and bring together all those interested in the research and applications in the field, it was time for the French mass spectrometrists to take their independence. The organization of the 11 International Mass Spectrometry Conference (11 IMSC) planned in Bordeaux at the end of August 1988 was the opportunity for 20 French mass spectrometrists to create, in 1985, the French Society for Mass spectrometry, Societe Francaise de Spectrometrie de Masse (SFSM). This very small number of members grew very quickly. The SFSM, currently, has about five hundred members. One half regularly pays an annual subscription of about €40 and the other half sometimes forgets. The SFSM is managed by a “Conseil d’Administration” (CA) made up of eight elected members. Each member represents a different mass spectrometric technique, such as instrumentation, surface analysis, fundamental or biological applications. The CA members are elected for a three-year term. Each year one third of the members are replaced. Important decisions are taken by all CA members while standard matters are settled by the board, which includes a president, a past president, a secretary and a treasurer elected from the members of the CA. In France, as elsewhere I suppose, there are underlying rivalries between the different communities: biologists, chemists, physicists (in alphabetic order) or mass spectrometrists of industry and of academia. One of the most important roles of the CA is to maintain the balance between these different communities inside the society and that is not always easy. Each year, the “Journees Francaises de Spectrometrie de Masse” (JFSM) are held in a different location, Orleans 1997, Lyon 1998, Nancy 1999, Lille 2000, La Rochelle 2001, Gif sur Yvette 2002 and Toulouse 2003. It is an opportunity to visit great centres or to discover small cities. However, the programme is often so full that it is just an opportunity to discover the “Palais des Congres”. The organization of this French national meeting involves the collaboration between the CA of SFSM and a local committee including members of the local mass spectrometry community. These meetings normally attract about 300 people. Although their organization is timeand energy-consuming, there have always been volunteers to take up this work during the last fifteen years. Tutorial courses are organized for the day before the beginning of the meeting, largely intended for industrial mass spectrometrists and graduate students. The SFSM has also organized international conferences or meetings: the 11 IMSC which attracted about 1500 participants in Bordeaux in August 1988, the “Journees Franco–Suisses” held in Lausanne in February 1989 and September 1992. The SFSM grants funds to thematic workshops such as the 4 European Workshop on Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry (Pont-a-Mousson, April 1997) or ERIG (Energetic and Reactivity of Gaseous Ions, Gif sur Yvette, November 1999).