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The Institute for Heavy Ion Research (GSI) looks into the innermost parts of matter. The research program is interested in the entire structure of matter, moving from the visible realm to atoms and atomic nuclei and on to the elementary components, quarks and electrons. This knowledge forms the basis for technical progress in practically all areas of our lives. The GSI operates an ion beam accelerator that for certain applications is the only one of its kind in the world. 850 workers, including 300 scientists and engineers, use and care for the facility. More than 1,000 additional guest re searchers from around the world also use the facility annually. The GSI co-operates with some 150 institutions in over 30 countries. The best known research results involve the discovery of six new chemical elements and the development of a novel tumor therapy using ion beams. In spite of the enormous progress in the sciences, an immense number of questions about the structure of matter and the formation of the universe remain unanswered. One step toward finding answers is the construction of a new international accelerator: FAIR (Facility for Antipron and Ion Research). GSI scientists in Europe and around the world believe this accelerator will serve as a unique accelerator and experimental facility, starting in 2014. With 10,000 times higher beam intensity and radiation energy increased by a factor of 20, the facility will be able to produce antimatter beams, or reproduce the pressure and temperature relations present in the interior of the planet Jupiter − thereby of fering a deeper view into the history of our universe.
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