Submillimeter observations are a key for answering many of the big questions in modern-day astrophysics, such as how stars and planets form, how galaxies evolve, and how material cycles through stars and the interstellar medium. With the upcoming large submillimeter facilities ALMA and Herschel a new window will open to study these questions. ARTIST is a project funded in context of the European ASTRONET program with the aim of developing a next generation model suite for comprehensive multi-dimensional radiative transfer calculations of the dust and line emission, as well as their polarization, to help interpret observations with these groundbreaking facilities.