Presentation of Alice Stankova

Alice Stankova: ICP-OES Product Manager at HORIBA France

Alice Stankova is the ICP-OES Product Manager and the contact person for the nuclear project at HORIBA’s Instrument Business Unit at the Palaiseau site. Alice specializes in several techniques, including ICP, ICP-MS, analytical chemistry, LIBS, and the coupling of laser ablation with ICP.

“In a training session, there are no such things as bad questions.”

Alice leads HORIBA's ICP-OES training courses (4 courses in French and 1 course in English):

These training courses are designed for users of HORIBA ICP-OES spectrometers. Whether you are a beginner, an intermediate user, or an expert, Alice always tailors her training to the participants.

Always adapts to clients and their needs; her mantra is that there are no bad questions to ask, we’re here to help, not to judge. Every question helps your lab evolve and progress. Her goal is for clients to leave her training feeling confident and comfortable using their instrument once they’re back in the lab on their own.

During her training sessions, Alice provides participants with a variety of teaching tools, with hands-on practice on the spectrometer at the heart of the training. Numerous examples and practical exercises on the instrument are included so that the client feels confident with the results they obtain, accompanied by a bit of theory. All users actively participate and operate the instrument during the session, which explains the limited number of spots available.

Alice is also the contact person at HORIBA France for nuclear projects. She also supports our clients with their corrosion-related projects. Finally, deeply committed to training, Alice has completed trainer certification to share her expertise and experience through training programs.

Alice began working with ICP-OES in 2005 and now has over 20 years of experience in her field. She worked on her first HORIBA instrument in the Czech Republic at a laboratory during her studies. It was a JY138ULTRAS optical ICP.

She completed her education in the Czech Republic, where she began studying chemistry at a specialized high school, after which she earned a diploma as an analytical chemistry technician. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in analytical chemistry and then a master’s degree in analytical chemistry. Alice completed her studies with a dual thesis under joint supervision between France and the Czech Republic, upon completion of which she earned two PhDs. Her thesis focused on chemistry and method development across various techniques (ICP, ICP-MS, analytical chemistry, LIBS, and laser ablation coupled with ICP). During her thesis work, Alice had access to several laboratories, which allowed her to work with a wide range of analytical instruments, including HORIBA and other competitors in the industry. These experiences enabled Alice to better understand customer expectations and market trends.

Throughout her career, Alice has worked on a wide variety of projects, including the development of new analytical methods starting in her undergraduate studies, as well as the analysis of soil and environmental samples.

ICP OES HORIBA

Her areas of expertise include ICP-OES, ICP-MS, sample preparation, coupling with ETV (Electro-Thermal Vaporization), chemistry, and corrosion research.

Since ICP-OES is a very broad technique, Alice works across all sectors, including pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, the environment, energy, materials, and biology.

Alice also works with various types of samples, including liquids, solids (in the case of ETV coupling), rare earths, materials, chemical samples, and more.

Authored several publications, co-authored a book chapter on ICP, and participates in numerous conferences such as SpectrAtome and Eurocorr.