Report from the 18th International Symposium on Advances in Extraction Technologies (ExTech’2016) and the 22nd International Symposium on Separation Science (ISSS’2016), Toruń, 3–6 July 2016

Province, Mayor of Toruń, and His Magnificence Rector of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The program of the symposium was exceptionally rich. It included 49 plenary and panel lectures as well as 22 oral announcements mostly presented by young scientists. Moreover, during the four subject sessions, there were 258 poster presentations. An integral part of the conference were workshops and the exhibition of 17 manufacturers and distributors of equipment, reagents and accessories. During the symposium, particular attention was drawn to the accomplishments of the founders and pioneers of both extraction science (Prof. Walter Ernst) and chromatography (Prof. Mikhail Tswett). The first session was devoted to the theoretical achievements and fundamental aspects in the field of separation methods. It began with an insightful lecture by Prof. J. Pawliszyn (Canada) concerning the accomplishments and the future of sample preparation technology. Professor P. Jandera (Czech Republic), laureate of the European Tswett-Nerst award, presented the advances which have been made in multi-dimensional separation techniques. A new concept in characterising stationary phases and columns used in the so-called fast chromatography was presented by Prof. A. Felinger (Hungary). Professor O. J. Schmitz (Germany) presented new methodological solutions in the use of coupled separation techniques (LC– MS) for determination of biologically active substances. Similarly, the other sessions brought numerous innovative and interesting solutions and proposals. They concerned such issues as new advances in sample preparation for the needs of biological and environmental analysis including analytics of food and natural products (Prof. E. Stashenko from Columbia, Prof. G. Mills from the UK, Prof. I. Vovk from Slovenia, Prof. D. Corradini from Italy or Prof. H. Jeleń from Poland). A particular emphasis was placed on the application of multi-dimensional systems One might say that history repeats itself. The best confirmation of that fact is the 18th International Symposium on Advances in Extraction Technologies—ExTech’2016 and the 22nd International Symposium on Separation Science—ISSS’2016 which took place at the Culture and Congress Center in Toruń, 3–6 July 2016. One more time, over 350 specialists from 41 countries specialising in analytical chemistry, particularly the physicochemical methods of separation, met in the Gothic city of Toruń to summarise their achievements and to present new concepts both in the theory and practice of separation, enrichment, isolation and determination of the entire range of chemical substances. For the first time in history, the two great symposia ExTech and ISSS have been combined as one event. The former pertains to the methods of sample preparation based mainly on the extraction techniques. The latter deals with the physicochemical methods of separation and determination of organic and inorganic substances of different molecular mass and structure, both individual substances and their derivatives occurring in different matrices. The symposia were organised by the Committee of Analytical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Chair of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry of the Nicolaus Copernicus University and the Central European Group for Separation Science (CEGSS). The honorary patronage of this scientific event was assumed by the Minister of Science and Higher Education, Marshal of Kuyavian-Pomeranian