Chemical and Environmental Analytics Core Facility - Advanced Mass Spectrometry for Interdisciplinary Research (ChEAF)

• Subject Area: Analytical Chemistry ; Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry ; Organic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 498124636

TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences is strengthening interdisciplinary and cross-faculty research in the central research area "Environment & Health" and is pooling resources in the field of instrumental chemical analytics. With funding of the Chemical and Environmental Analytics Core Facility - ChEAF at the Campus Leverkusen, the research for scientists and its cooperation partners is to be significantly supported by the modern research instrumentation and methods as well as the available expertise to support analytical questions. The research service is also intended to promote the networking of researchers and generate impulses for new approaches to knowledge-oriented research. The predicted Core Facility will transparently present its services, including application options, on a central website and thus generate internal and external visibility. In regular workshops for users and, above all, young researchers graduating as PhD students, techniques can be learned with on site trainee, but analytical problems can also be discussed and solutions together developed. In a similar way, advanced students will be introduced to current techniques and research methods in pharmaceutical and environmental analysis in form of summer schools at the Campus Leverkusen.The organizational restructuring to build the Core Facility goes hand in hand with the strengthening of the scientific staff and the expansion of the analytical infrastructure, especially in the area of advanced mass spectrometry. The use of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) enables the reliable identification and precise quantification of small to higher molecular organic (bio-) molecules from challenging matrices and complex environmental samples in trace quantities. In conjunction with the existing equipment, essential technology and methods will be available to address key analytical questions from the proposed project in water and environmental analysis, drug research and bio-economy by the interdisciplinary research consortium. In addition to the step-by-step development of the instrumentation-based research infrastructure and processing the proposed projects, main focus will be on establishing sustainable quality and data management in order to provide users with the experimental data and scientific results in an uncomplicated manner and to ensure automated long-term storage.

• DFG Programme: Major Instrumentation Initiatives
• Major Instrumentation: HR Massenspektrometer
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Technische Hochschule Köln
• Participating Institution: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR); Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrtmedizin
• Leader: Professor Dr. Matthias Hochgürtel