Once again the impressive 18th Century Ardgour House, located in the stunning highland scenery of Fort William, Scotland, hosted the annual Exploratory Measurement Science Group Ardgour Symposium. The 5 day meeting, now in its 8th year, is organized to bring together a diverse international group of young and established scientists, who are interested in the development, or application, of advanced analytical instrumentation. This year's meeting contained presentations from world-leading academics, instrument manufacturers and pharmaceutical researchers, fostering wide-ranging interdisciplinary discussion.