Highlights from three years of SIS/ESR operation at GSI: A facility portrait and progress report

In this report an overview on the major physics results from the first three years of SIS/ESR operation has been given. Particular focus has been directed to the nuclear physics studies ranging from the production of radioactive beams over the excitation of multi-phonon giant resonances to the investigation of compressed, hot and highly excited hadronic matter in central and semicentral heavy ion collisions. Furthermore, some highlights from atomic physics and applied research have been briefly addressed including the most accurate studies of QED and relativistic effects in highly charged heavy ions performed so far, and the development of novel techniques for tumor therapy with heavy-ion beams. (orig./HK)