There’s something different about the much-missed International Symposium on Capillary Chromatography and the GC×GC Symposia – “Riva,” as it’s affectionately known. Its absence has been felt, and many separation scientists are excited to see it return. To understand why Riva inspires such loyalty, we reached out to some of its long-time participants.
For Chiara Cordero, Full Professor of Food Chemistry at the University of Turin, Riva represents a turning point in her scientific career, opening the door to the international network that would shape her work for decades.
Cordero’s scientific journey started in 1998, when she joined the phytochemical analysis laboratory led by her mentor, Carlo Bicchi. “I often say that my entry into research was not really a decision – it was more of an encounter,” she says. “I entered that laboratory with the curiosity of a student and immediately felt that separation science had something to offer me, something almost intimate: a way to ‘read’ complexity, to understand how nature organizes its chemistry, to follow the traces that molecules leave behind in food and natural matrices.”
Cordero’s early work was focused on food safety – particularly the determination of pesticide residues in baby food. “Techniques like GC-ECD/FPD, GC-MS, and LC-UV/DAD were my daily vocabulary,” she says. “I can still recall the satisfaction of validating a method that would actually improve the safety of something as fundamental as infant nutrition.”
Then, in 2003, things took a new direction. Through a collaboration with a major flavor and fragrance company, Cordero was introduced for the first time to comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC). “They were interested in using this emerging technique to characterize raw fragrance materials and investigate potential allergenic compounds that were about to be regulated in Europe,” she says. GC×GC was the key that opened a new door. “It allowed me to visualize chemical complexity in a way that no other technique had shown me before – ordered, structured, and somehow… elegant.”
This experience coincided with Cordero’s first scientific lecture in Riva del Garda. “It marked a defining moment in my scientific identity,” she says.
Below, Cordero reflects on her experiences at Riva over the years, shares her view on the hottest trends in separation science, and explains why you won’t want to miss the 44th ISCC and 21st GC×GC Symposium on May 17–22, 2026.
Looking back to your first Riva del Garda conference in 2000, how would you describe its role in your scientific journey?
My first Riva del Garda conference was in 2000. At that time, poster preparation meant printing multiple A4 sheets, aligning them carefully with tape, and hoping everything would stay in place during the session. I walked into the conference halls with the awe of a young researcher entering a cathedral of science.
It is difficult to describe the intensity of that first impression: suddenly, I was face-to-face with the scientists whose papers I had studied line by line during my early career. I still recall seeing Harold McNair, Leslie Ettre, Karel Cramers, Pat Sandra, Janusz Pawliszyn, Walter Jennings, Leonid Blumberg, and so on. Meeting them in person – hearing them speak, watching them react to scientific ideas – felt like stepping through a looking glass.
My involvement with Riva came naturally through Carlo Bicchi, who introduced me to the chromatographic community and encouraged me to present our early work on food quality and complex natural matrices. Riva opened the door to the international network that would shape my career for decades.
Over the years, I attended many editions of the conference. Each one added something – a technical insight, a new collaboration, or simply the motivation to push further.
One unforgettable moment was the Leslie Ettre Award I received in 2008. It came completely unexpectedly; I did not even know I was among the eligible candidates. Professor Ettre could not attend in person that year, so he sent me a personal letter, filled with kindness and encouragement. I still treasure that letter. It was a turning point in my confidence as a young scientist, and I have often thought that the energy I perceived between those lines helped push my career in the direction it took.
Some of my most meaningful memories of Riva are connected to people – colleagues, mentors, friends – some of whom are no longer with us. One of them is Hans-Georg Schmarr, a brilliant chromatographer and a friend with a great heart. His generosity, both scientific and personal, is something I deeply miss.
Another key figure for me is Pat Sandra, an extraordinary scientist and the charismatic chairman of Riva for many years. Watching him orchestrate the scientific sessions, engage young researchers, and keep the entire community moving forward was itself a masterclass in scientific leadership; knowing that he is still behind the scenes is comforting and a reminder of the continuity and values that have always shaped the Riva community.
Riva has played a decisive role in my research journey because it is not just a conference. It is a place where ideas circulate freely, where young scientists approach established leaders without barriers, where informal conversations over coffee or by the lake can turn into innovative collaborations or even lifelong friendships.
It has always offered me inspiration, opportunities, and a sense of belonging to a scientific community that evolves together. Riva is, and always will be, part of my scientific DNA.
What makes Riva del Garda such a unique and influential event – particularly now as it restarts?
The years without Riva created a noticeable gap in the community. Conferences continued elsewhere, of course, but something essential was missing. The restart of Riva brings a sense of continuity, almost rebooting a scientific tradition that has shaped generations of chromatographers. I am personally very enthusiastic about this restart, because I believe science also needs rituals and landmarks – events that remind us why we do what we do.
Why is Riva so unique? First, its interdisciplinary spirit. Although rooted in capillary chromatography, it has always attracted scientists working in mass spectrometry, multidimensional separations, chemometrics, sample preparation, microfabrication, and increasingly data-driven innovation (AI, machine learning, computer vision). This mixture creates a fertile ground for cross-pollination: young researchers get exposed to concepts they would never encounter if confined to their sub-field.
Second, its audience. Riva is for everyone – senior experts, early-career researchers, instrument developers, method builders, students attending their first conference, and industrial scientists seeking robust solutions. This diversity is one of the conference’s strongest features. There is no hierarchy in the auditorium, no distance between “the big names” and the young PhD student with their first poster. Everyone is there for the same reason: separation science.
Third, Riva has helped shape careers. Personally, it taught me that scientific growth requires three ingredients: curiosity, humility, and dialogue. It encouraged me to pursue multidimensional separations at a time when GC×GC was not yet mainstream. It made me realize how essential it is to be open to new ideas – especially those coming from unexpected directions.
On the scientific side, Riva has historically introduced many new concepts and instruments. It was, in many editions, the place where novel modulators, new stationary phase designs, high-speed separations, advanced MS detectors, and early data-processing tools were presented for the first time. It hosted the birth of workflows that later shaped the field – e.g., early applications of comprehensive chromatography to environmental and food matrices, innovative approaches to pattern recognition, and more recently, the integration of AI strategies.
And then there is the technological dimension. One of Riva’s distinctive strengths is the direct interaction with instrument developers – the people who actually design the hardware, optimize modulators, scale flows, and solve real problems. These discussions often take place outside the official sessions, at the exhibition area, sometimes late in the afternoon after scientific sessions, and they are priceless. They inspired some of my own research directions, helped me refine configurations, and sometimes helped me simply understand the logic behind specific instrumental constraints.
Finally, there’s something about the balance between scientific rigor and human connection that makes Riva unique. The program is demanding and exciting, but the atmosphere is relaxed and open. Riva encourages listening, questioning, learning – not showing off. It makes you feel part of something bigger than your own lab or your own project. I often tell young researchers: at Riva, you can experience in a few days what in normal life would take years. Simply put, Riva is a catalyst of scientific progress and personal growth. And no, nothing else fills the gap – not in the same way, not with the same spirit.
What emerging trends in separation science excite you the most?
We are living an extraordinary moment for separation science. The field is expanding conceptually, technologically, and computationally – all at the same time. Several developments deserve attention, and many of them have already started reshaping our workflows.
First, comprehensive multidimensional separations (GC×GC, LC×LC) remain central. Their ability to bring order into chemical complexity is unparalleled. Today, multidimensionality is no longer a purely academic exercise: it is used in industry, in regulatory contexts, in advanced quality control, in metabolomics, and in emerging fields like exposomics. Hybrid combinations such as LC×SFC or LC×GC, although challenging, push the boundaries of what we can separate, quantify, and understand.
Second, mass spectrometry continues to evolve, offering faster acquisition speeds, improved sensitivity, and new ionization strategies. But the real revolution is happening at the intersection of MS and separation science: how we use MS data is changing dramatically.
Which brings me to the development that excites me the most: AI and computer vision in chromatographic data analysis. For years we focused on peak identification, integration, and quantification. Important, of course. But AI allows us to explore chromatograms as images, to detect patterns that human eyes cannot see, and to compare thousands of fingerprints without losing information. When we use computer vision to “read” GC×GC plots, we are not just detecting compounds – we are interpreting chemical landscapes.
This is transformative for fields like food quality, authentication, fragrance formulation, environmental screening, and of course sensomics and AI smelling, which were conceptualized years ago in the group of Peter Schieberle and are now becoming practically accessible.
Of course, AI does not replace separation science – quite the opposite. It enhances it, gives it new meaning, enables new questions. When you combine comprehensive separations with AI-supported pattern recognition, you multiply the informational capacity of the experiment.
Another hot area is data fusion, which lets us combine volatilomics with LC-based metabolomics, sensory data, or even biological endpoints. This integration creates holistic views of systems that used to be studied in isolated compartments.
Finally, why should scientists – especially younger researchers – make sure not to miss Riva?
Riva is the place where you meet the scientists whose work shaped your education, and where you realize they are approachable, generous, and genuinely interested in the next generation. At Riva, students, young researchers, and established scientists all share the same space and the same enthusiasm.
Riva is where you learn, where you question yourself, where you get inspired. It is where scientific ideas become collaborations, and where collaborations become discoveries. It is where you can imagine your future by looking at the path traced by others – and realize that your own path can go even further.
For anyone who cares about separation science, Riva isn’t optional. It truly makes a difference.
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