Perspectives on star formation: the formation of high-mass stars

The formation process of high-mass stars has puzzled the astrophysical community for decades from both a theoretical and an observational point of view. Here, we present an overview of the current theories and status of the observational research on this field, outlining the progress achieved in recent years on our knowledge of the initial phases of massive star formation, the fragmentation of cold, infrared-dark clouds, and the evidence for circumstellar accretion disks around OB stars. The role of masers in helping us to understand the mechanism leading to the formation of a high-mass star are also discussed.