With the advent of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), particle and nuclear physics have entered a new era. Heavy ion collisions at the LHC have already begun to provide new insights into the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). The beam energy scan program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) will explore part of the rich phase diagram of QCD at finite baryon density. Proton-proton collisions at the LHC will uncover the mechanism responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB).Much of the physics involved in these experiments is, or may turn out to be, strongly coupled. Making contact with experiment thus requires a theoretical understanding of strongly coupled gauge dynamics. This project aims at using the gauge/string duality to make essential contributions to our understanding of: (i) Out-of-equilbrium dynamics of the QGP, in particular of the thermalization process; (ii) The QCD phase diagram, in particular of color superconducting phases; (iii) Strongly coupled dynamics potentially relevant for EWSB, in particular of walking dynamics.These three main objectives are interconnected by two horizontal lines: (i) Identification of universal observables, which hold the best potential to make contact with experiment, and (ii) Communication with other fields, which is crucial for the success of such an interdisciplinary proposal.