  We review the prospect of obtaining tree-level de Sitter (dS) vacua and
slow-roll inflation models in string compactifications. Restricting ourselves
to the closed string sector and assuming the absence of NSNS-sources, we
classify the minimal classical ingredients that evade the simplest no-go
theorems against dS vacua and inflation. Spaces with negative integrated
curvature together with certain combinations of low-dimensional orientifold
planes and low-rank RR-fluxes emerge as the most promising setups of this
analysis. We focus on two well-controlled classes that lead to an effective 4D,
N=1 supergravity description: Type IIA theory on group or coset manifolds with
SU(3)-structure and O6-planes, as well as type IIB compactifications on
SU(2)-structure manifolds with O5- and O7-planes. While fully stabilized AdS
vacua are generically possible, a number of problems encountered in the search
for dS vacua are discussed.
