One of the great challenges of modern astrophysics is the proper understanding of the interstellar processes that lead to new generations of stars and planets. The research of the group in the field of stellar formation is oriented along three major lines: (i) The study of the media forming stars, with particular emphasis on the understanding of the initial physical and chemical conditions as functions of space and time. (ii) The study of ensembles of very young stellar objects, in order to empirically determine the mass distribution spectrum at stellar birth. The functional form of this spectrum appears universal, i.e., it is the same in our Galaxy and in external galaxies, and our primary objective is to understand to what degree the memory of the initial cloud condition is `frozen in' into this function. (iii) The study of the dynamics of forming stars, especially during the earliest, protostellar, phases. The physics of the apparently co-existent mass building infall and angular momentum shedding mass outflows are not well understood, but this understanding is clearly important as these processes limit the final stellar mass and incorporate the formation of planets. A short description of our research linked to the space platforms is presented, followed by projects performed mainly with ground-based instruments.