International Women in Chromatography: Making Connections at HPLC 2025

The International Women in Chromatography is a professional community with a dedicated group on LinkedIn aiming to support and connect women and non-binary people working or studying in the field of chromatography.

Gender equality and the female empowerment movement, multicultural and multiethnic, watercolor painting on white background © Amparo Garcia - stock.adobe.com

Why is this group needed? And why should you consider joining?

I can tell you why it is important to me, at least.

I remember going to my first international conference at the end of the first year of my PhD. I was very excited; it was my first time presenting a poster, and I was very proud.

But at the same time, I remember the feeling during the coffee breaks. I was alone, my colleagues were not with me, and I did not know anyone, or at least no one knew me.

During the sessions, I concentrated on the presentations, but what to do during the coffee breaks? When I looked around, all I saw were groups of people having passionate discussions; it was like seeing old friends again, everyone seemed to know all the topics already, and everyone had great questions. What was I doing there? I did not have the confidence to start a conversation, and believe me, I am not a shy person.

I had a similar feeling at the start of my career. I looked at more experienced female colleagues and asked myself how I could get there. I wondered how it was possible to balance everything, how could I build a family and a career?

Now, after a few years in the field, I can say that it is possible, and it is less complicated than you might think. But not everyone has a mentor who can say to you: "Don't worry, go to the conference and talk to people. Next time you will know everybody". This is a key reason why you should consider joining the International Women in Chromatography group, to support women early in their careers, and to gain insight and support from those with the most experience. The community is a safe place to find a partner to travel to a conference with, to speak with at coffee breaks, and to get advice on how to apply for a grant. It is for all those women who are afraid to travel alone, who have young children and need advice on how to get back to work, who want to approach a great professor to share an idea for collaboration, who need that first introduction.

The connections made in this group will empower you, will help you to create new scientific collaborations, to understand that taking a break is not the end of your career, that you are not alone, and that many other women chromatographers share these issues.

Diane Turner, Jacqueline Hamilton, and Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay launched the LinkedIn group just a few months ago, and it’s already grown to nearly 400 members.

You can join the community by following this link: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13080121/

Now let's take the next step, from online community to live event. If you are planning to attend the HPLC 2025 conference in Bruges, Belgium, there will be a great opportunity to meet us in person.

In the HPLC conference catering area, there will be a table reserved for the International Women in Chromatography members and anyone who would like to find out more about the group.

Throughout the conference, during coffee breaks and lunches, there will be games and activities to facilitate discussion on the topics you are interested in.

Juliane Kramer, from Knauer, and Ina Varfaj, from the University of Perugia, Italy, are organizing the live event. If you have ideas and would like to support the organization during the event, please contact Juliane Kramer and/or Ina Varfaj.

We look forward to seeing you in Bruges and helping the community grow.

Giorgia Greco was formerly head of product management and applications at Knauer.