title: "Observational studies of photo-evaporating protoplanetary disks (proplyds)" authors: Silvia Vicente, Olivier Berne, Inga Kamp, Alexander Tielens, Andres Carmona, Linda Podio abstract: The majority of stars are born in transient OB associations rather than in smaller dark cloud complexes. And there is now clear evidence that our own young Solar System evolved near massive stars. Externally illuminated protoplanetary disks or ``proplyds" are low-mass young stellar objects (YSOs) surrounded by Solar System-sized protoplanetary disks and found embedded within or near a HII region. In these environments, the stars and their disks are exposed to intense UV radiation fields and stellar winds from the OB stars, dynamical encounters with sibling stars, and supernovae, on timescales of planetary system formation and early evolution. Will the disks survive the harsh conditions imposed by massive star formation and mature into planetary systems? What are the physical properties and evolution of protoplanetary disks in a typical cluster environment? In this poster I present a few results of past and ongoing observational studies of ``proplyds". I will also refer to possible future projects with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) which spatial and spectral resolution and sensitivity are suitable for composition and dynamical studies of small, extended and faint objects such as proplyds.