IAG Quality Assurance Workshops
A major focus of the IAG is the dissemination of knowledge about best practice in analytical geochemistry, thereby encouraging individual laboratories to test for and assure high data quality. The first workshop that the IAG organised devoted to quality assurance (QA) in geochemical analyses was held at the University of Cologne immediately before the Goldschmidt Conference there in August 2007.
Since then the IAG has organised a number of QA workshops often, but not exclusively, in conjunction with the Goldschmidt conference.
- 2019: Goldschmidt, Barcelona, Spain
- 2017: Goldschmidt, Paris, France
- 2013: Goldschmidt, Firenze, Italy
- 2011: Goldschmidt, Prague, Czech Republic
- 2010: Geoscience Australia, Canberra
- 2010: Goldschmidt, Knoxville, USA
- 2009: Geoanalysis, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- 2009: Mineralogical Society conference, Edinburgh, Scotland
- 2009: Goldschmidt, Davos, Switzerland
- 2008: German Mineralogical Society Annual Meeting, Berlin, Germany
- 2008: Goldschmidt, Vancouver, Canada
- 2007: Goldschmidt, Cologne, Germany
SIMS Courses
After a gap of several years because of the pandemic, we are now offering this course once again. This year’s SIMS Course organised by Dr Michael Wiedenbeck is scheduled for 1 to 5 September 2025 at GFZ Potsdam, Germany.
The short course Introduction to Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry in the Earth Sciences has been held at the Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam since 2002 and is aimed at graduate students and early career researchers. The IAG has been supporting this course for many years. Further details are available at https://sims.gfz.de/short-course/
Other IAG-Sponsored Workshops
Over the years, the IAG has also supported other workshops and symposia of particular interest to the geoanalytical community, including:
- January 2012: Mass Spectrometry Short Course, Bristol, England
- May 2012: Conference on Microanalytical Reference Materials, Golden, Colorado, USA
- November 2012: Conference on Mineral Resources and Reference Materials, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
- June 2012: Goldschmidt 2012, Montreal, Canada – special session on “Geochemical heterogeneity – Definition, Detection and Characterisation” to address the identification and characterisation of heterogeneity in reference materials when sampled at the low-nanogram to picogram range
- August 2013: Goldschmidt preconference workshop on boron isotopes, Pisa, Italy
- March 2014: Certification and Proficiency Testing Workshop, Chicheley Hall, Milton Keynes, UK
- October 2016: Certification and Proficiency Testing Workshop, Horwood House, Milton Keynes, UK
