LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) is a new innovative radio telescope which will conduct observations in the 10-250 MHz wavelength regime. It makes use of phased aperture technology, making moving parts redundant, and allowing digital beam forming towards any part of the sky.

Because of the large instantaneous field of view, an important goal that has driven the development of LOFAR since the beginning is to explore the low-frequency radio sky by means of a series of unique surveys. We are planning to exploit the unprecedented sensitivity and wide instantaneous field of view of LOFAR to conduct large-sky surveys at 15, 30, 60, 120 and 200 MHz.

Four topics have been identified as drivers for the proposed surveys. Three of these are fundamental areas of astrophysics for which LOFAR is likely to make substantial contributions: 1. Formation of massive galaxies, clusters and black holes using z $\gtrsim$6 radio galaxies as probes; 2. Intercluster magnetic fields using diffuse radio emission in galaxy clusters as probes, 3. Star formation processes in the early Universe using starburst galaxies as probes. The fourth is the exploration of new parameter space for serendipitous discovery taking advantage of the new observational spectral window open up by LOFAR.

I will discuss the requirements of the proposed surveys to address these (and many others!) topics as well as the synergy with other radio surveys planned for the near future.