The European Chemical Society (Division of Analytical Chemistry), appointed Elia Psillakis, Professor at the School of Environmental Engineering of the Technical Univeristy of Crete, as the head of the 'Sample Preparation Task Force'. The members of the task force are Prof. Elia Psillakis, (Head), Prof. Manuel Miro, (University of the Balearic Island, Spain), Prof. Stig Pedersen-Bjergaard, (University of Oslo, Norway), Prof. Marcela Alves Segundo, (University of Porto, Portugal), Prof. Charlotta Turner, (Lund University, Sweden), Assoc. Prof. Barbara Bojko, (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland), Assoc. Prof. Ezel Boyaci, (Middle East Technical University, Turkey), and the international guests are Prof. Janusz Pawliszyn, (University of Waterloo, Canada) and Prof. Gangfeng Ouyang, (Sun Yat-Sen University, China).

The aims of the task force will be the promotion of Sample Preparation in Europe through the facilitation of communication, information exchange and networking, the promotion of fundamental studies and cross-disciplinary collaboration and the organization of scientific events. To further benefit the area, efforts will be placed on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship and the active involvement of early stage researchers.