ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is the most powerful technique for trace and ultra-trace elemental analysis. The A&MS research unit aspires the purchase of a secondgeneration tandem ICP-mass spectrometer for successfully addressing applications involving short transient signals, such as those encountered when using high-end laser ablation as a means of sample introduction in bio-imaging applications, or when introducing discrete entities into the ICP ion source – e.g., for the characterization of engineered nanoparticles or the analysis of individual cells. Tandem ICP-MS units are equipped with two quadrupole mass filters and a collision/reaction cell located in-between (Q1-CRCQ2) and offer unprecedented capabilities for overcoming spectral overlap via chemical resolution. The combination of the ultrafast detection (up to 10,000 read-outs per second) attainable with the second-generation of this instrument type with the extensive capabilities to create interference-free conditions will permit novel types of analytical applications, providing crucial information in various research fields