  Recent studies have shown that there are discrepancies between observations
and the theoretical predictions in some neutrino experiments at short
distances. In the so-called "Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly" and in the "Gallium
Anomaly", these differences from the expectations are at the $\sim$3 $\sigma$
level in both cases. Oscillations into a light sterile neutrino state ($\Delta
m^{2} \sim 1eV^{2}$) could account for the deficits in observed rates. The
STEREO experiment has been conceived to confirm or reject the sterile neutrino
hypothesis. It will search for an oscillation pattern at short baselines (9-11
m) in the energy spectrum of the antineutrinos emitted by the research nuclear
reactor of the Institut Laue Langevin. To this end, the detector is filled with
two tons of Gd-loaded liquid scintillator read out by an array of PMTs and is
segmented into 6 cells in the direction of the antineutrino's propagation.
STEREO should be capable of excluding the best fit parameters region of a
candidate sterile neutrino at 5 $\sigma$. Data taking will start at the end of
2016 and the first physics results are expected by the first semester of 2017.
