School outline

The International School on Mass Spectrometry (IntSMS) is a six day full immersion school aimed to give advanced and higher education in mass spectrometry to graduate, PhD, post-doc students, and all those working in different areas of science, ranging from physics, chemistry, biosciences, food, environment, omics sciences to medicine, interested to improve their knowledge and culture in mass spectrometry.

The school will be also useful for allowing meeting, creating new links and networking among scientists coming from different countries.

The IntSMS - 3rd course is devoted to

Mass Spectrometry and Tandem MS of Biomolecules

Fundamentals, Advances, and Applications

Mass spectrometry is an effective and enabling technology for identifying, structurally characterizing and quantifying large intact macromolecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids, with high specificity, accuracy, sensitivity and speed.
Numerous MS and tandem MS (i.e., MS/MS) approaches are available: high resolution MS, various MS/MS dissociation strategies (e.g., collision-, electron-, and photon-based, such as CID, ExD, and UVPD, respectively), top-down sequencing, native MS of complexes, MS imaging, ion mobility and many others.
These topics, together with recent technological advancements in MS and ancillary technologies, will be presented and critically discussed during the school, providing participants with a thorough and up-to-date background on applications of MS and MS/MS of macromolecules.

The school is organized in:

a) Tutorial lectures (60-120 mins) aimed at presenting theory, instrumentation and applications of ion mobility mass spectrometry given by an international team of lecturers;

b) Poster sessions. Participants are encouraged to present a poster on their own research activity. Posters will be exhibited during the full period of the school to give the opportunity to those attending the school to go through;

c) Selected flash orals (10 mins each). Selected posters will be presented as flash oral communications to give participants the opportunity to present their work;

d) Exercises with the active participation of students in solving some exercises on matters presented in the lectures;

e) Problem solving in which participants present to the others and tutors problems encountered in their scientific activity receiving suggestions on how to try to solve them.

Topics
  • Fundamentals and history of mass spectrometry of intact nucleic acids, proteins, and their complexes
  • Fundamentals, history, and applications of top-down MS
  • Fundamentals, history, and applications of native MS
  • Sample preparation strategies
  • On-line separations: chromatography, electrophoresis, ion mobility
  • Instrumentation: MS and fragmentation strategies (collision-, electron-, and photon-based)
  • Data analysis and bioinformatics for top-down and native MS
  • MS and middle-/top-down MS of therapeutic proteins
  • Imaging MS
  • Native MS and native top-down MS of proteins from tissues
  • MS of microbes and viruses
  • MS and top-down MS of nucleic acids
  • Integrating MS with structural biology
  • Recent technological developments (including charge detection-MS, coupling MS with cryogenic microscopy)

Social program

Welcome party      Wednesday, Sept. 9th, 8:00 p.m.

Excursion to Marsala and Selinunte Guided Tour. Satu., Sept. 12th, 3:00-11:00 p.m.

Gala Dinner      Saturday, Sept. 12th, 8:30 p.m.

Students of the IntSMS 2026 leave their mark!     Sunday, Sept. 13th, 9:15 p.m.