This Volume presents the proceedings of the 1995 Advanced Study
Institute entitled "Fundamentals and Applications of Gas Phase Ion
Chemistry" held at Grainau, tlt Germany during the period 7 _IStlt
August, 1995. The Institute brought together over SO scientists from
many countries and, for the first time in this series, we were delighted
to be able to welcome representatives from a number of countries in
Eastern Europe. This was the sixth in a series of NATO-sponsored
Institutes devoted to various aspects of the physics and chemistry of
gas phase ions. Although there continued to be a strong emphasis on
various fundamental aspects of the subject, there was a broadening of
the topics covered compared with previous Institutes with several
sessions being devoted to discussing various types of application. This
reflects the great expansion of the use of mass spectrometry in the
investigation of biochemical and biological problems and in its use in
different branches of the chemical industry such as in the investigation
of polymers and other materials.