Miguel Valcárcel, University of Córdoba

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Abstract

The Analyst profiles Miguel Valcárcel, Full Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the University of Córdoba and recipient of the Solvay Prize for Chemistry (1996) and the Robert Boyle Medal of the Analytical Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2004).

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Personal summary/biography

Born on May 4, 1946, in Barcelona, Spain, Miguel Valcárcel received his BSc in Chemistry and PhD in Analytical Chemistry, both with honours (Extraordinary Awards), from the University of Seville in 1969 and 1971, respectively. He was Assistant Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Palma de Mallorca for one year and has served as Full Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the University of Córdoba, where he has conducted most of his academic and research activities since his appointment in 1976 (Fig. 1 and 2).

Fig. 1 Campus de Rabanales of the University of Córdoba, where the Analytical Chemistry Department is located.

Fig. 2 The Valcárcel research group.

Miguel Valcárcel is the author or co-author of 650 research papers, 8 books and 12 book chapters on a variety of analytical chemical topics including automation in the analytical laboratory, flow injection analysis, non-chromatographic continuous separation techniques, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, the use of new stationary phases including fullerenes and nanotubes in solid-phase extraction, sample screening systems, vanguard–rearguard strategies and metrology in chemistry. He has so far been the supervisor or co-supervisor of 52 PhD theses and eight of his former doctoral students have by now been appointed full professors in Analytical Chemistry at various Spanish universities. Also, he holds 12 Spanish patents.

Miguel Valcárcel has received various domestic and international honours in recognition of his scientific career the most prominent of which are the Solvay Prize for Chemistry (1996) and the Robert Boyle Medal of the Analytical Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2004).

His permanent concern with teaching Analytical Chemistry “properly” has led him to write several textbooks and papers, and participate in a number of discussion sessions, revolving around this topic. Probably, his greatest contribution in this area has been a proposal to change the way the analytical curriculum has traditionally been taught and place special emphasis on the foundations of Analytical Chemistry as a discipline from the very beginning. His personal views on this topic are clearly expressed in the opening chapters of the second edition of the “Analytical Chemistry” textbook published by Wiley-VCH, of which he is co-editor. He is also the author of an atypical, polemic book called “Principles of Analytical Chemistry” (Springer), where he elaborates on his personal view of the teaching of Analytical Chemistry. Finally, he is currently engaged in the development of the European Area for Higher Education in Spain.

Miguel Valcárcel has held a variety of academic and scientific positions. Thus, he has been Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of Palma de Mallorca and Córdoba, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and of Quality Management of the University of Córdoba, Coordinator of the Chemistry Area in the Spanish National Agency for Evaluation and Prospective (ANEP, Madrid), Coordinator of the Program for Assessment of Candidates to holding university positions in the newly established specialized Spanish agency (ANECA, Madrid), and President of the Analytical Division of the Federation of European Chemical Societies (DAC–FES).

What early influences encouraged you to take up science?

Usually, one's initial choice is strongly influenced by one's teachers at high school. This was indeed my case. At 16, I had an admirable chemistry teacher who greatly aroused my interest in this area of knowledge, possibly through his rational approach to the subject and his ability to create a favourable atmosphere for inquisitive thinking about everyday phenomena where chemical processes played a prominent role by using a rather unconventional teaching strategy that departed from the traditional approach requiring learning by heart teachers' lectures.

At the time, Spanish universities had a common University entry course that provided access to specialized graduate studies in Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Physics or Engineering, for example. Interestingly, I had initially chosen to study Biology, even though what I was actually after was Molecular Biology—which is something I only realized much later. However, I was deeply disappointed by the curriculum of my second Biology year, which included purely descriptive botanical and zoological lectures. This led me to return to Chemistry, from which I have never departed since. It was a tough decision—I was urged by my family not to waste a full academic year—but the correct one as I have always felt at home as a chemist since I made that decision.

When did you first become interested in Analytical Chemistry and for what reason?

It was also the “human factor” that encouraged me to choose Analytical Chemistry in preference over other chemical areas for my BSc and PhD work. Professor Pino, at the time holder of the Analytical Chemistry chair at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Seville, invited me to conduct research work in his department. My acceptance was based on his open-minded and liberal nature—a rarity in Spain at the time—and also on his responsiveness to his students' own initiatives. I have always been attracted by challenges. Possibly, one of the greatest challenges I willingly undertook was to strengthen Analytical Chemistry in Spain and Europe, where it was assigned a much less prominent role than in the USA, for example. Helping place Analytical Chemistry at the same appreciation level as other chemistry branches in scientific and curriculum terms in Spanish universities has in fact been a permanent challenge for me.

Also, I have always thought that Chemistry can be described as a tetrahedron the vertices of which are occupied by Theory, Synthesis, Analysis and Applications. Analysis is a crucial, distinct aspect of Chemistry of a high strategic significance. Interactions between chemical areas are growing substantially at present, thanks to a great extent to the increasingly important role played by Analytical Chemistry. This has been the dogma of my whole scientific career.

Tell us about your current research and why you chose to research these areas

Inflection points are of paramount importance in a scientific career as they should respond to scientific and technical progress, and also to the social and economic needs of each time. Switching to a different research line is no easy task for a scientific group; however, well-ground changes are highly useful with a view to maintaining interest and competitivity.

At present, our research group is engaged in the development and validation of vanguard–rearguard analytical strategies (see, for example, Trends Anal. Chem., 2005, 24, 67) with a view to simplifying analytical processes in response to the growing demand of (bio)chemical information and the inability of routine analytical laboratories to process hundreds of samples every day. With the new approach, vanguard systems are used to process in a simple, rapid manner, many samples in a short time; this “sample screening” operation provides crash results (e.g. YES/NO binary responses, total indices) which, if reliable, can be used for immediate decision making. On the other hand, rearguard systems use conventional analytical processes involving complete sample treatment and sophisticated instruments (e.g. GC-MS, LC-MS, EC-MS, GC-MS-FTIR) for three primary purposes, namely: confirming the data provided by vanguard systems (e.g. when they might exceed the maximum allowed limit for an analyte); expanding available information for the samples with discriminate quantitative data; and, especially, providing quality control for vanguard analytical chemistry. Our group believes that routine analytical laboratories are about to experience a revolution similar to that brought about by the incorporation of computers into the laboratory. We hold the view that R&D “products” in Analytical Chemistry should include not only new tools and methods, but also new working strategies.

In addition to this primary research line, our group has for the past few years worked on the use of new materials such as fullerenes or carbon nanotubes as sorbents in solid-phase extraction (SPE) and pseudo-phases in capillary electrophoresis separations. Our principal contribution to capillary electrophoresis has been the automation of on-line sample treatment by use of commercially available instruments, which ensures transferability to routine laboratories. Bridging the gap between R&D products and their use in practice has been a permanent aim of our research work.

Which of your previous research are you most proud of?

Many colleagues have come to associate my name with work on automation in the analytical laboratory in general and flow injection analysis (FIA) in particular. Also, most of my domestic and international awards recognize my work in this area, which is has by now lost most of its topicality. However, the experienced gained from FIA work has allowed our research group to use flow analysis systems as tools rather than targets. The fact that our FIA papers continue to be cited in the analytical literature testifies to the interest and impact of this research line, of which I am very proud.

I am also especially proud of my contributions to clarifying the foundations of Analytical Chemistry, even though they are less widely known because they have no direct impact on experimental research. We are certain, however, that their strategic significance will be recognized sooner or later. Our most salient contributions in this respect include the following: dealing in a global manner with analytical properties and their hierarchical, complementary and contradictory relationships; emphasizing the practical significance of so-called “analytical quality compromises”; providing support for unusual forms of analytical information such as binary responses, total indices and method-defined parameters, none of which is included in ISO 17025:1999; defining the analytical problem and ensuring consistency between the information required by the client and that delivered by the laboratory in each case; and defining the analytical property representativeness. Some of these contributions (e.g. the integral traceability concept, or the use of “confidence interval” instead of “uncertainty” to avoid its negative connotations when judged by inexperienced workers) have been polemic and unwelcome by specialists.

What are your ultimate goals of research?

One is helping simplify analytical processes by devising reliable by-passes to some of the preliminary operations (e.g. sample preparation). We also aim to establish a solid two-way link between analytical research and routine laboratories, and to persuade others of the significance of productivity-related analytical properties such as expeditiousness, cost-effectiveness and safety in relation to conventional properties such as accuracy, precision, selectivity and sensitivity. Finally, we aim to ensure that the (bio)chemical information required by clients is granted the same reference status as measurements and written standards have for long enjoyed in Analytical Sciences.

Where do you see the area of automated Analytical Chemistry progressing over the next ten years?

Future advances in Analytical Chemistry are bound to come in three directions defined by as many current trends in Science and Technology, namely: automation, miniaturization and simplification. These three keywords have aroused disparate interest in the past few decades. Initially, the focus was placed on reducing human involvement in the analytical process. Then, the interest fell on reducing the size of analytical tools (e.g. lab-on-a-chip approach). Recently, however, simplicity has become a more common buzzword in this context.

Undertaking a topical R&D subject can no doubt provide many scientific rewards. Such was the case with our contribution to FIA expansion in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the consolidation of a trend with quality scientific achievements leading to commercial availability of the tools involved gradually reduces the opportunity for further innovation. This has been the case with automated Analytical Chemistry, where few truly interesting novelties are to be expected in the future. I believe that automation in our discipline should not be a goal per se, but rather a contribution to consolidating two of the above-mentioned general R&D trends: miniaturization and simplification.

You were recently involved in the MEQUALAN project, concerned with improving communications between Analytical Chemists and the European governments. How did you approach this and how successful was the outcome?

The European project “Metrology of Qualitative Analysis” (MEQUALAN) was a venture launched with the aim of improving the relationships between routine analytical laboratories and clients requesting analytical information by considering the growing importance of YES/NO binary responses about objects or systems on the one hand, and the lack of a metrological background for this type of analytical information (e.g. how to approach the uncertainty interval to this information), which is not included in ISO 17205:1999, on the other hand. European governments and the EU Commission are quite interested in this topic because the national regulations and EU directives that have established threshold limits for specific substances require support in the form of a sound technical background. The principal outcome of this project was a Euroreport of such great interest that it has been re-issued several times.

What advice would you give to a young scientist wanting to pursue a career in Analytical Chemistry?

My advice would be to take his or her career as a privileged choice that will provide ample opportunity for developing creative skills and implementing innovations. While not quite profitable in economic terms, it is becoming increasingly appreciated by society and rewarding in personal terms. Also, I would advise any aspiring scientist to always bear social needs in mind and never cocoon in the laboratory. In fact, a laboratory-shut scientist has no place in today's world. Also, one should avoid focussing on a single topic; rather, one should be permeable to scientific advances in other areas; multidisciplinarity is in fact the most favourable environment for truly important scientific progress. While these recommendations are perfectly applicable to a young researcher in Analytical Sciences, he or she should also be aware of the strategic significance of always striving to deliver quality (bio)chemical information.

What would you like to be most remembered for?

This is no easy question. I would rather have others assess or rank my contributions to Analytical Chemistry. In any case, I would like to be remembered for my devotion to strengthening Analytical Chemistry in Spain and Europe, my contributions to clarifying the foundation of our discipline and the development of vanguard–rearguard strategies, my polemic proposals in the field of Metrology in Chemistry and my permanent concern with ensuring consistency between the information required by clients and that provided by the routine analytical laboratories serving them. In summary, I would rather not be remembered for my FIA work only. I am specially proud of a scientific career of more than thirty years, and also of conducting scientific research in parallel with devising new ways to approach some basic analytical chemical concepts.

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