Research at the Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy addresses some of the major questions of astronomy: what is the nature of space and time? Are we alone? What are our cosmic origins? How are the most energetic explosions and particles in the universe powered? How did the Sun and Earth form? At our institute we focus on specific techniques and objects that we deem to be promising avenues for finding answers to the big questions, organized in five research groups that fit into two research themes.