Recent developments in experimental techniques have enabled the study of nuclei far from the line of stability in both the proton- and the neutron-rich sides. This work is divided in two parts. In the first part we report the identification of gamma-rays in the near proton-drip line nuclei Pm-130 and Pm-132. In the second part, preliminary results of a systematic measurement of B(E2
0(+) --> 2(+)) using novel CoulombExcitation techniques are presented for even-even isotopes of Ge and Se. The difficulties and challenges that represent the determination of the B(E2) values for the exotic neutron-rich nuclei Ge-78 and Ge-80 are discussed. The measurement of these radioactive isotopes was possible thanks to the recent availability of radioactive ion beams at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility. A comparison between the measured B(E2) values and theoretical predictions obtained with the IBA2 model is also presented.