Recent Physics Results and the 12 GeV Upgrade at JLAB

Over the past years a large number of experiments have been carried out in the 3 experimental halls at Jlab. Recent highlights from this broad program will be presented. These include measurements of the nucleon and pion form factors at high $Q^2$, results on the polarised and unpolarised structure functions and first results from the parity experiment G0. With the planned upgrade to 12 GeV, a whole new area of physics will become accessible. Using a longitudinally polarised photon beam, a search for gluonic exitations leading to exotic hybrid mesons will be carried out using a new detector. Modifications of the existing detectors will allow to study the quark-gluon structure of hadrons and nuclei with unprecedented precision and exploit the so-called generalised parton distributions and the transverse momentum distributions of the quarks. Both the plans for the accelerator, the detectors and the physics potential at 12 GeV will be presented.