Events

Conferences

FIRMS Conference 2025

Location: Burlington House, The Royal Society of Chemistry, London, UK

When: 15-18 September 2025

Keynote Speaker: Professor Niamh Nic Daeid

The 9th FIRMS Network Conference was held 15-18 September 2025 in London at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Burlington House.

An interactive full-day workshop was held Monday. It walked participants through the complete analytical pathway for generating forensic isotopic evidence, using the FIRMS Network’s guidance documents as a common thread. The workshop began with a primer on laboratory quality systems and the ISO/IEC 17025 framework then moved into mini-sessions led by subject matter experts on:

• Sampling Strategies
• Method Validation & Accreditation
• Data Handling & Uncertainty
• Interpretation & Database Building

Thanks are due to Phil Dunn (Chair/Director), Ethan Strak (Treasurer), Jim Carter (Director), and Joe Meikle (Membership) for their workshop presentations. Workshop participants gathered for informal drinks afterward at The Clarence, a traditional British pub.

The conference opened Tuesday morning with a keynote presentation by Niamh Nic Daeid, Professor of Forensic Science and Director of the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, University of Dundee. Oral presentations given by conference attendees from Tuesday to Thursday covered a wide variety of topics, including doping, the environment, human remains, wildlife, explosives, polymers, food, measurement uncertainty, and databases. Poster presentations took place Tuesday evening, with welcome drinks. Several presentations were given by students, and were extremely well received by conference attendees.

The conference dinner was a cruise with West End on the Thames and took place Wednesday evening. The conference ended Thursday mid-afternoon with a final coffee/tea break.

Special thanks are due to Tara Aitchison and Merry Rivas (LGC Group); their efforts preceding and during the conference helped to ensure it was a success. Refreshments—including coffee/tea breaks, lunches, the poster reception, and conference dinner cruise—would not have been possible without the support of sponsors, including Elemtex, ThermoFisher Scientific, Sercon, and Elementar.