Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic transient events in the Universe. 
Not only do they represent the violent end of a massive star and the birth of 
a black hole, but their explosions allows us to trace them throughout the
entire Universe. With the launch of the NASA Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer
Mission our knowledge of GRBs has been revolutionized. With its fast slew 
capacity it is able to be on the position of a GRB within a minute or two after 
the GRB is detected, giving us access to the earliest phases of a GRB afterglow.
Since its launch in November 2004, Swift has discovered more than 900 bursts,
about 280 with spectroscopic redshift measurements - providing us the
largest sample in history with prompt and afterglow observations. This unique
sample enables us to perform unprecedented statistical studies of GRBs. 
In my talk I will review the history of GRB discoveries and their importance to
astrophysics. I will present the Swift mission and explain what is unique and
exciting about it and how Swift has given us new evidence for
connections between the GRB prompt and afterglow emission. The fate of the 
burst is already determined during the explosion of the star.
I will finish the talk by looking into the future and explain how we can use 
predictive data mining tools to determine the afterglow light curves and the 
redshifts of the bursts based on observed properties of the burst.

The talk is primarily based on results published in 
Grupe et al., 2013, ApJS, 209, 20