The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) will 
be the largest optical-infrared telescope in the World. 
With a diameter of about 40m and with adaptive optics integrated 
in the telescope, the E-ELT will be more than one hundred times 
more sensitive than the present-day largest optical telescopes. 

The E-ELT will vastly advance astrophysical knowledge by enabling, 
for example, the detection of Earth-like exo-planets, 
the study of the first galaxies, a direct measurement of the acceleration 
of the expansion of the Universe. 

In this talk I will illustrate the E-ELT project and the characteristics 
of the telescope according to the latest reference design. 
I will also discuss the E-ELT Science Case and I will focus 
on the results of the simulations performed for the Design Reference 
Mission, in particular on the topic of young stellar clusters 
and the Initial Mass Function.