**Preface to "Gamma-Ray Burst Science in 2030"**

The study of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) has been a very active field since their discovery, by the Vela satellites, about fifty years ago.

Recent years have witnessed exciting breakthroughs that further stimulated the interest of the scientific community in the GRB field. The recent identification of a spectral component beyond synchrotron emission in the afterglow phase increased the debate about particle acceleration and emission processes at place in a GRB. The ubiquity of the extra spectral component and the environmental conditions under which it is produced are still under debate. Moreover, whether this component is also present in the earlier prompt phase or not is another open question.

The recent advancements in the GRB field were achieved thanks to the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger approach. Being able to simultaneously collect data on a burst with different instruments is the key for a deep and complete understanding of the phenomena under study. Indeed, the multi-messenger and multi-wavelength observation of the neutron-star-neutron-star merging event GW 170817 (detected both electromagnetically and via gravitational waves) has already led to a step forward in our comprehension of GRB jet dynamics and morphology.

These observations of the environment, the emission processes and the jet dynamics are key tools to unveil the nature of progenitors of GRB of short and long durations and the connection of GRB to other astrophysical questions, such as the origin of the heavy elements or the high redshift universe stellar population.

As these discoveries increased the curiosity of the community, the next generation of instruments will be ready in the coming years, providing the tools for continuing explorations in this field. Future missions will provide a more complete picture of the phenomena by measuring the polarization of the bulk of prompt emissions and by detecting high-redshift GRBs.

The purpose of this reprint is to give an overview of the main challenges and problems that the GRB field is currently confronted with to propose some possible solutions and to explore the tools that the community will have in their hands in the near future. We are convinced that this Special Issue will become a reference that pictures the current state of the art of the GRB field and envisions it in a close future.
