Short Courses


TUESDAY, JULY 25, MORNING

Short Course: High precision and accuracy isotopic analysis by MC-ICPMS– Laurentian Instructor: Lu Yang (National Research Council Canada)
9:00 First half
10:00 Coffee Break – Richelieu 10:20 Second half
12:00 End of short course

TUESDAY, JULY 25, AFTERNOON

Short Course Measurement Uncertainty in Chemical Analysis – Laurentian
Instructor: Juris Meija (National Research Council Canada)
14:00 First Half
15:00 Coffee Break – Richelieu 15:20 Second Half
17:00 End of short course

Measurement Uncertainty in Chemical Analysis

Presented by: Juris Meija, (National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Rd, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0R6; juris.meija@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca)

Measurement uncertainty is the doubt that remains after making a measurement and this Short Course will outline the essential tools used to evaluate this doubt – from the classical Gauss’s methods to modern Bayesian methods. The Short course will emphasize that chemical measurements do not rely only on calibration standards and measurement methods but also on a variety of statistical models. The choices analysts make about such models can have a significant effect on the reported measurement results and their interpretation. Through many practical examples, this course will explore a rich variety of modeling options so that one can better appreciate their effect on the results and recognize that a larger statistical toolkit can raise the bar for more reliable results.

The author is a member of the international team entrusted with maintenance of the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) and a recent book on Measurement Uncertainty, available on Amazon.

High precision and accuracy isotopic analysis by MC-ICPMS

Presented by: Lu Yang (National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada lu.yang@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca)

This short course focuses on the latest developments related to isotopic fractionation/mass bias and its correction models for accurate and precise isotope ratio measurements by MC-ICP-MS. In addition to commonly believed mass-dependent fractionation (MDF) phenomenon, recognition and reporting of mass-independent fractionation (MIF) within MC-ICP-MS itself has proliferated in the last decade. MIF has a significant impact on the choice of these isotopic fractionation correction models, as the use of mass-dependent models to correct for instrumental bias for isotopes which display mass-independent fractionation would result in biased isotope amount ratios. Implication of MIF on several popular mass bias correction models, the core concepts and assumptions for each model, its pros and cons, and individual practical aspects for isotope amount ratio measurements will be discussed in detail.

Short bio:

Dr. Lu Yang is a Senior Research Officer at National Research Council of Canada (NRC, Ottawa, Canada) and a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, leading research in applications of ICP-MS and MC-ICP-MS. She has published over 140 research papers and two book chapters. The isotopic measurements for mercury, germanium, indium, iridium, osmium, hafnium and lead from her lab have been adopted by IUPAC as the best available isotopic composition measurements; and the standard atomic weights of mercury, germanium, iridium and hafnium are based on her lab's results.