This project aims to study fundamentally-oriented aspects of ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and develop methods for solving challenging scientific problems in an interdisciplinary context. Specific topics of research include the direct bulk and spatially resolved analysis (including depth profiling and 2- and 3-dimensional elemental mapping) of solid materials by means of ICP-MS using laser ablation (LA) for sample introduction, single-event ICP-MS focusing on the elemental analysis of engineered nanoparticles, microplastics and cells, and high-precision isotopic analysis using multi-collector sector field ICP-MS. Methods for elemental and/or high-precision isotopic analysis are developed for applications in, among other, the fields of archaeometry, geo- and cosmochemistry, the environmental sciences and medicine.