26th International Mass Spectrometry Conference (IMSC 2026)
On behalf of the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation (IMSF), we are pleased to welcome you to the 26th International Mass Spectrometry Conference (IMSC), to be held in Lyon, France, from 22 to 28 August 2026. This edition is jointly organised by the French Society for Mass Spectrometry (SFSM) and the SFSM Youth Club, the German Society for Mass Spectrometry (DGMS) and the DGMS Young Scientists Group, and the Swiss Group for Mass Spectrometry (SGMS).
Previous successful editions of the IMSC Congress have been organised by the SFSM, DGMS and SGMS, including Bordeaux 1988, Bremen 2009 and Geneva 2014. The DGMS and SFSM also co-organised the EMSC2018 in Saarbrücken, and each national society has a tradition of organising annual national or joint meetings. In Lyon, participants can enjoy culture and leisure activities, such as the ruins of the city’s Roman foundation and the highlights of French gastronomy. The city is served by an international airport, three high-speed train stations and has plenty of accommodation.
The scientific programme is divided into 5 themes and will cover a wide range of topics on the present and future of mass spectrometry, including :
- Fundamentals, Instrumentation and Data
- Life Sciences, Health, Food and Pharmaceuticals
- Chemistry and Materials
- Environment, Resources and Energy
- Grand Challenges and Opportunities
Pre-conference courses and evening workshops will complement the scientific programme, offering a wide range of scientific, technical and professional development opportunities.
The all-in-one congress centre will provide large spaces for vendor sessions, seminar lunches, innovation talks, exhibitions and poster sessions, and will be able to accommodate well over 1500 participants. All stakeholders in the organisation are committed to promoting respect for people and the environment as a core value of IMSC2026. The Conference Chair is the Director of the Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity at the University of Lyon. The Scientific Committee will pay particular attention to a broad and fair representation of our community in the selection of communications. The City of Lyon, the Convention Bureau and MCI France are committed to eco-responsibility, with concrete actions and tools for organising an eco-responsible event.
Registration
Registration fees (10% VAT incl.)
Early bird (until 29/04/2026)
- Student: 165.00 €
- Regular: 495.00 €
- Young Scientist*: 495.00 €
- Low-income or middle-income countries**: 330.00 €
- Solidarity rate: 250.00 €
- Exhibitors: 100.00 €
- Accompanying person (18+): 50.00 €
Regular (until 20/08/2026)
- Student: 330.00 €
- Regular: 605.00 €
- Young Scientist*: 605.00 €
- Low-income or middle-income countries**: 440.00 €
- Solidarity rate: 250.00 €
- Exhibitors: 100.00 €
- Accompanying person (18+): 50.00 €
On-site (from 09/08/2026)
- Student: 385.00 €
- Regular: 715.00 €
- Young Scientist*: 715.00 €
- Low-income or middle-income countries**: 550.00 €
- Solidarity rate: 250.00 €
- Exhibitors: 100.00 €
- Accompanying person (18+): 50.00 €
* The Young Scientist rate will offer a discount on the short courses and Dinner. Date of completion of the thesis less than 4 years
** Place of work / country of practice (professional card, employer's certificate with the mention of the country, etc.) rate applicable for participants working in a ‘Low and Lower-Middle income’ country on the World Bank's official list.
The registration fees for students, Normal, Young and LMIC includes:
- A nominative badge
- Access to the conference rooms, exhibition and poster area
- Coffee breaks and welcome reception on the exhibition
The registration fee for exhibitors includes:
- A nominative badge
- Access to the exhibition and poster area
- Coffee breaks and welcome reception on the exhibition
The registration fee for an accompanying person includes:
- A nominative badge
- Access to the welcome reception and welcome plenary session only
Abstract submission
SUBMISSION TOPICS
Please find below the list of 5 topics (and included scopes) to submit your abstract:
Fundamentals Instrumentation and Data
- Software Innovations and Data Science in Mass Spectrometry
- Gas-phase Ion Spectroscopies
- Automation and High Throughput
- Multi-modal MS approaches
- High Resolution MS
- Next-generation Acquisition Workflows
- Activation/Dissociation methods
- Ion Mobility Separation
- Mass Analysers & Charge Detection
- Ionisation Methods
- MS imaging
- Lab-on-chip, miniaturisation, portable instrumentation
Life Sciences, Health, Food and Pharmaceuticals
- Oligonucleotides
- Proteomics
- Exposome
- Biomarkers
- Spatial Omics
- Interactomics and Chemproteomics
- Biopharmaceuticals and small molecules
- Biomolecular and non-covalent complexes
- Lipidomics
- Single Cell and Sub-cell Analysis
- Forensics, Sport doping and security
- Metabolomics
- Glycomics and Glycoproteomics
- Large ions and soft landing
- Clinical Applications of Mass Spectrometry
Chemistry and Materials
- Ion structure, Chirality, Isomery, symmetry
- Cross-linking & Derivatisation
- Ion Chemistry and Reactivity
- Analysis of Polymers and Polymer Surfaces
- Supramolecular chemistry
- MS for Chemical Synthesis and in-operando analysis
- Ionization Mechanisms
- de Novo Structural Identification
- Nanomaterials
Environment Resources and Energy
- Food Quality, Safety and Authenticity
- Art & cultural heritage
- Atmospheric Chemistry: aerosols, nanoparticles, air quality
- Natural Products
- Origins of life, Archeology & paleontology
- Earth, Ocean, astrochemistry and planetary sciences, exobiology
Energy - Contamination, Microplastics and Polymer degradation in Environment and Water
Grand Challenges and Opportunities
- New frontiers - emerging and breakthrough trends, innovations and challenges across all areas of mass spectrometry
- Accessibility, teaching and outreach
- Sustainability
- Metrology and standards
- Global cooperation and industry-academia collaborations
- Applications of AI
Plenary speakers
- Gustavo Martos (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) - France)
- Olga Vitek (Purdue University - United States of America)
- Anouk Rijs (Vrije University of Amsterdam - Netherlands)
- Thalappil Pradeep (Indian Institute of Technology of Madras - India)
Sponsoring and Exhibition
26th International Mass Spectrometry Conference (IMSC 2026): Sponsors and Exhibitors
