  We present the basic ideas of the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD)
transport approach which is a microscopic covariant dynamical model for
strongly interacting systems formulated on the basis of Kadanoff-Baym equations
for Green's functions in phase-space representation (in 1st order gradient
expansion beyond the quasi-particle approximation). The approach consistently
describes the full evolution of a relativistic heavy-ion collision from the
initial hard scatterings and string formation through the dynamical
deconfinement phase transition to the strongly-interacting quark-gluon plasma
(sQGP) as well as hadronization and the subsequent interactions in the
expanding hadronic phase. The PHSD approach has been applied to p+p, p+A and
A+A collisions from lower SIS to LHC energies and been successful in describing
a large number of experimental data including single-particle spectra,
collective flow and electromagnetic probes. Some highlights of recent PHSD
results will be presented.
