GSI and FAIR Timeline: From 1969 until 2019
The GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019. During the decades, GSI has developed from a national research institute with worldwide collaborations into an international campus. With the international FAIR accelerator center, in which GSI is the German and also the main shareholder, people from all over the world will carry out cutting-edge research for decades to come. We have compiled the highlights of the GSI history. Join us on a journey through time, click your way through 50 years of GSI, and take a look into the future of FAIR.
This is what the campus looked like in the beginning of GSI history 50 years ago. In this interactive image gallery you can see the changes that took place in 50 years of GSI.
Milestones of GSI History
1969 | Foundation of Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung mbH |
1970 | Participation in the the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Großforschungseinrichtungen (AGF) (now the Helmholtz Association) |
1975 | First experiments with linear accelerator UNILAC |
1981 until 2010 | Discovery of six new chemical elements and their official recognization by IUPAC in the Periodic Table of the Elements: Bohrium, Hassium, Meitnerium, Darmstadtium, Roentgenium, Copernicium |
1990 | Commissioning of the ring accelerator SIS-18 and the storage ring ESR |
1997 | First patient treatment with carbon ions at GSI therapy facility |
2003 | Federal Ministry of Education and Research gives green light for the realization of the new accelerator facility FAIR with international participation |
2007 | FAIR Start Event – official start of the project, FAIR partner countries sign joint communiqué |
2008 | Commissioning of the PHELIX laser system |
2008 | Renaming into GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH (GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research) |
2009 | Opening of the Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Center (HIT) |
2010 | Foundation of FAIR GmbH, GSI holds a share of 75 percent |
2017 | Groundbreaking for FAIR |
50 years, 50 pictures — Our favorite photos
Almost 500 participants have selected their favorite photos out of 50 pictures from five decades of GSI history. Take a look at our Top 10 of the pictures with the most votes.
