2810 20160701171711.0 ASTROimport-967 Gullieuszik, M. 2011 The AGB Stellar Population in the Magellanic System: First Results from the VMC Survey Mass loss is one of the fundamental properties of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, and through the enrichment of the interstellar medium, AGB stars are key players in the life cycle of dust and gas in the Universe. However, a quantitative understanding of the mass-loss process is still largely lacking, in particular its dependence on metallicity. Direct measures of mass-loss rates in AGB stars of the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) are limited to samples of ˜ 100 stars (e.g. Groenewegen et al. 2009). Estimates on larger samples of stars are, to date, based on empirical relations between mass-loss rates and colors in the mid-IR (e.g. Matsuura et al. 2009). Our project aims at a direct measure of mass-loss rate in all AGB stars in the MC system. Groenewegen, M. A. T. Vmc Team Why Galaxies Care about AGB Stars II: Shining Examples and Common Inhabitants 445 2011 529 http://esoads.eso.org/abs/2011ASPC..445..529G published in NONREF