From September 21–25, 2026, the 27th School of Mass Spectrometry took place at the Wellness Hotel Frymburk on the shores of Lake Lipno. This year’s event was held under the theme “Mass Spectrometry: From Experimental Design to Data Interpretation.” The program covered a wide range of topics, from experimental planning and biological sample preparation to LC-MS analysis, metabolomics, proteomics, and other omics approaches.
The Laboratory of Growth Regulators was well represented at this year’s event. The school was attended by Ondřej Novák, David Friedecký, Ivan Petřík, Jaroslava Friedecká, René Lenobel, Ursula Rácová, as well as our PhD students Daniela Škyvarová and Filip Roderik Palej.
Ondřej Novák delivered a talk “Finding a Needle in a Haystack Using Mass Spectrometry” in the opening invited lecture session. David Friedecký, in his lecture “How Many Samples Are Enough? From Effect Size and Variability to a Well-Designed Study,” focused on proper experimental design, while Ivan Petřík presented “Biological Sample Preparation for LC-MS: A Practical Guide to Protocol Development Using Design of Experiments.”
Continuing with the topic of omics analyses, Jaroslava Friedecká gave a lecture entitled “Integrated Analysis of Metabolomics, Proteomics, and Lipidomics Data.”
Research findings were also presented during the poster session. René Lenobel, Jaroslava Friedecká, Natálie Zemánková, Hana Svobodová, David Friedecký, and Ondřej Novák presented a poster entitled “Comparison of Human Serum Processing Methods for Untargeted LC–MS Proteomics and Peptidomics.”
The School also included specialized training courses, which began on September 20. As part of the Back2Science program, Ursula Rácová attended the course “Practical Interpretation of EI Mass Spectra.”
This year’s School of Mass Spectrometry provided our laboratory not only with an opportunity to present its research findings but also with a valuable platform for sharing experiences, gaining new knowledge, and fostering connections across generations of scientists – from experienced researchers to PhD students.