Lectures on cosmic inflation and its potential stringy realizations

These notes present a brief introduction to hot big bang cosmology and cosmic inflation, together with a selection of some recent attempts to embed inflation into string theory. They provide a partial description of lectures presented at the RTN Winter School at CERN in January 2007, as well as in courses at Dubrovnik in August 2006 and at Cargèse in August 2007. Given the substantial overlap between these three courses, the same paper will also appear as part of the proceedings of the latter two schools. It is aimed at graduate students with a working knowledge of quantum field theory, but who are unfamiliar with the details of cosmology or string theory.