CHESS has the ambition to stay at the forefront of the research on liquid chromatography and adsorptive separations, and expand its activities into other areas of low-energy cost liquid-phase separation techniques, such as membrane separations and micro-scale extractions. The group largely owes its international reputation to the fact that it has positioned itself as a group developing innovative solutions that bridge the gap between the molecular scale and the micro- to millimeter scale of the packing or housing materials typically used in chemical processes.