Investigations of star formation in galaxies using ALMA

ALMA provides unprecedented sensitivity and resolution to study gas and dust emission in the millimeter and submillimeter bands. The magnitude of the improvement is such that not only conventional studies can be done much better but entirely new tools and research fields should also become accessible. In this article, I examine several specific areas where new capabilities of ALMA will bring significant quantitative improvements to the determination of star formation rate and properties of the gas fueling the activities. I propose a survey of nearby galaxies with well measured metallicity gradient during the early phase of the ALMA operation as one of the key science projects.