In engineering applications, heterogeneous media are often described in statistical terms. This partial knowledge is sufficient to determine the effective, i.e. large-scale behavior. This effective behavior may be inferred from the Representative Volume Element (RVE) method. I report on last years' progress on the quantitative understanding of what is called 
stochastic homogenization of elliptic partial differential equations: optimal error estimates of the RVE method and the homogenization error,  and the leading-order characterization of fluctuations. Methods connect to elliptic regularity theory and to concentration of measure arguments.