Star formation in turbulent molecular clouds

Recent progress in the understanding of star formation is summarized. A consistent picture is emerging where molecular clouds form with turbulent velocity fields and clumpy substructure, imprinted already during their formation. The clouds are initially supported by supersonic turbulence, which however dissipates within massive clumps on short timescales, of order their local dynamical timescales. As a result, the clumps collapse and fragment into stellar clusters. Subsequent energetic feedback processes by the newly formed stars will change the thermal and kinematical state of the surrounding molecular gas, triggering or suppressing star formation and leading eventually to the disruption of the molecular clouds. More work is required to understand these processes in greater detail.