In recent years ALMA has transformed our view of the properties and evolution
of protoplanetary disks. I will review our new view of the fist steps of
planet formation as derived from the recent body of high angular resolution
and demographical studies of disks. The new observational constraints have
also highlighted some of the limitations of our basic understanding of disk
properties, in particular regarding the physical and chemical properties of
dust and gas. We now need to focus on trying to understand the properties and
evolution of disks as a function of their environment, in an attempt to
constrain the diversity of planetary systems architectures, and at the same
time we need to understand the chemical evolution of both the solids and gas
in disks to constrain the properties and initial conditions of planetary
atmospheres. In this talk I will highlight the status of the field from an
observational perspective, including the most promising directions for future
progress, and identify the areas where we believe progress need to be made
from a modeling perspective.