  Nuclear reaction rates are one of the most important ingredients in
describing how stars evolve. The study of the nuclear reactions involved in
different astrophysical sites is thus mandatory to address most questions in
nuclear astrophysics. Direct measurements of the cross-sections at stellar
energies are very challenging - if at all possible. This is essentially due to
the very low cross-sections of the reactions of interest (especially when it
involves charged particles), and/or to the radioactive nature of many key
nuclei. In order to overcome these difficulties, various indirect methods such
as the transfer reaction method at energies above or near the Coulomb barrier
are used to measure the spectroscopic properties of the involved compound
nucleus that are needed to calculate cross-sections or reaction rates of
astrophysical interest. In this review, the basic features of the transfer
reaction method and the theoretical concept behind are first discussed, then
the method is illustrated with recent performed experimental studies of key
reactions in nuclear astrophysics.
