Brian Brookman (Chair)
Brian Brookman, formerly the Chief Scientific Officer for LGC’s global proficiency testing (PT) business, and now working as an independent consultant on PT, has over forty-five years’ experience in analytical science, the past thirty years in the field of analytical quality, particularly concerned with PT. He has been involved, around the world, in various training and consultative projects concerned with developing PT and the accreditation of PT providers.
Brian is very active at the national, European and international level with respect to the development and harmonisation of good practice in PT. He is currently Chair of the ILAC Accreditation Issues Committee 17043 Working Group, Chair of the Eurachem PT Working Group, Chair of the EA-Eurolab-Eurachem (EEE) Joint Working Group on PT in Accreditation and Chair of the UK Working Group on PT. He was an ILAC liaison on the ISO/CASCO Working Group that revised ISO/IEC 17043, and is an ILAC liaison on the ISO Committee responsible for the development of ISO 13528.
Afternoon 28th September
[T1] Basic Statistics
In the training course, the basic principles of statistics necessary for statistical evaluation of PTs will be explained, starting from an explanation of data distribution and how to draw that, e.g. with a histogram. Different types of position and variability indexes will be provided to summarize the data. The normal distribution, its important properties and its connection with the way to evaluate the participant performance, as well as detection of outliers, will be part of the programme. Necessary statistics for stability and homogeneity tests in PTs will be also treated. Quick reference about qualitative PTs will finalize the programme. The training will also contain guided exercises. *Trainers: Marzia Mancin and Piotr Robouch
Afternoon 28th September
[T2] Homogeneity & Stability
In this training course, attendees will learn about the important requirements, procedures and criteria for assessment of homogeneity and stability of the PT samples, according to ISO 13528. For homogeneity and stability assessment, participants will learn about the following key points: requirements of ISO/IEC 17043:2023 standard, how to perform representative and statistical sampling, doing replicate testing in and over time, comparison methods of results, statistical analysis of data, outlier handling, and the experience and expertise supplied by the PT provider. *Trainers: Kees van Putten and Caroline Laurent
Afternoon 28th September
[T3] Advanced Statistics
The training will focus on the more sophisticated statistical techniques described in ISO 13528:2015. Robust techniques for the estimation of mean and standard deviation - Algorithm A, Qn method and Q/Hampel method - will be explained and can be compared in an exercise using an Excel programme provided. The principles of kernel density estimation and bootstrapping will be shown and Excel files will provided for that as well. *Trainers: Marzia Mancin and Piotr Robouch
Afternoon 28th September
[T4] Demystifying Reports
The training will explain how a laboratory assesses his performance by comparing their results with those of other laboratories thanks to the right interpretation of the PT reports.
Understanding these reports involves recognizing key performance indicators, like z-scores, and understanding their implications. In this course we will clarify the information provided in the PT reports, so that the participant will be familiar with key statistical terms used in PT reports, such as z-scores and standard deviations. Apart from understanding the content of a PT report, we will explain the importance of performing investigation of unsatisfactory or questionable PT results. *Trainers: Brian Brokman and Raquel MúrtulaMorning 28th September
[T1] Basic Statistics
In the training course, the basic principles of statistics necessary for statistical evaluation of PTs will be explained, starting from an explanation of data distribution and how to draw that, e.g. with a histogram. Different types of position and variability indexes will be provided to summarize the data. The normal distribution, its important properties and its connection with the way to evaluate the participant performance, as well as detection of outliers, will be part of the programme. Necessary statistics for stability and homogeneity tests in PTs will be also treated. Quick reference about qualitative PTs will finalize the programme. The training will also contain guided exercises. *Trainers: Marzia Mancin and Piotr Robouch
Morning 28th September
[T2] Homogeneity & Stability
In this training course, attendees will learn about the important requirements, procedures and criteria for assessment of homogeneity and stability of the PT samples, according to ISO 13528. For homogeneity and stability assessment, participants will learn about the following key points: requirements of ISO/IEC 17043:2023 standard, how to perform representative and statistical sampling, doing replicate testing in and over time, comparison methods of results, statistical analysis of data, outlier handling, and the experience and expertise supplied by the PT provider. *Trainers: Kees van Putten and Caroline Laurent
Morning 28th September
[T3] Advanced Statistics
The training will focus on the more sophisticated statistical techniques described in ISO 13528:2015. Robust techniques for the estimation of mean and standard deviation - Algorithm A, Qn method and Q/Hampel method - will be explained and can be compared in an exercise using an Excel programme provided. The principles of kernel density estimation and bootstrapping will be shown and Excel files will provided for that as well. *Trainers: Marzia Mancin and Piotr Robouch
Morning 28th September
[T4] Demystifying Reports
The training will explain how a laboratory assesses his performance by comparing their results with those of other laboratories thanks to the right interpretation of the PT reports.
Understanding these reports involves recognizing key performance indicators, like z-scores, and understanding their implications. In this course we will clarify the information provided in the PT reports, so that the participant will be familiar with key statistical terms used in PT reports, such as z-scores and standard deviations. Apart from understanding the content of a PT report, we will explain the importance of performing investigation of unsatisfactory or questionable PT results. *Trainers: Brian Brokman and Raquel MúrtulaMorning 28th September
[T1] Basic Statistics
In the training course, the basic principles of statistics necessary for statistical evaluation of PTs will be explained, starting from an explanation of data distribution and how to draw that, e.g. with a histogram. Different types of position and variability indexes will be provided to summarize the data. The normal distribution, its important properties and its connection with the way to evaluate the participant performance, as well as detection of outliers, will be part of the programme. Necessary statistics for stability and homogeneity tests in PTs will be also treated. Quick reference about qualitative PTs will finalize the programme. The training will also contain guided exercises. *Trainers: Marzia Mancin and Piotr Robouch
Morning 28th September
[T2] Homogeneity & Stability
In this training course, attendees will learn about the important requirements, procedures and criteria for assessment of homogeneity and stability of the PT samples, according to ISO 13528. For homogeneity and stability assessment, participants will learn about the following key points: requirements of ISO/IEC 17043:2023 standard, how to perform representative and statistical sampling, doing replicate testing in and over time, comparison methods of results, statistical analysis of data, outlier handling, and the experience and expertise supplied by the PT provider. *Trainers: Kees van Putten and Caroline Laurent
Morning 28th September
[T3] Advanced Statistics
The training will focus on the more sophisticated statistical techniques described in ISO 13528:2015. Robust techniques for the estimation of mean and standard deviation - Algorithm A, Qn method and Q/Hampel method - will be explained and can be compared in an exercise using an Excel programme provided. The principles of kernel density estimation and bootstrapping will be shown and Excel files will provided for that as well. *Trainers: Marzia Mancin and Piotr Robouch
Morning 28th September
[T4] Demystifying Reports
The training will explain how a laboratory assesses his performance by comparing their results with those of other laboratories thanks to the right interpretation of the PT reports.
Understanding these reports involves recognizing key performance indicators, like z-scores, and understanding their implications. In this course we will clarify the information provided in the PT reports, so that the participant will be familiar with key statistical terms used in PT reports, such as z-scores and standard deviations. Apart from understanding the content of a PT report, we will explain the importance of performing investigation of unsatisfactory or questionable PT results. *Trainers: Brian Brokman and Raquel Múrtula