The GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research is a federally and state co-funded heavy ion research center in the Arheilgen suburb of Darmstadt, Germany. It was founded in 1969 as the Society for Heavy Ion Research , abbreviated GSI, to conduct research on and with heavy-ion accelerators. It is the only major research center in the State of Hesse. The current director of GSI is who succeeded Horst Stöcker in 2015.