Hard probes and spin physics at STAR

Spin is one of the most enigmatic and least understandable properties of elementary particles. The study of the proton spin puzzle is an important part of the physics program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) accelerating both nuclei and polarized protons. STAR is one of the two large detectors at RHIC and will have excellent capability for spin physics. In the report the overview of the STAR spin physics program is given. It includes the highest priority measurements of single and double spin asymmetries allowing one to determine gluon contribution to proton spin, to separate sea and valence quark flavor polarizations, to measure quark transversity. A brief description of the RHIC accelerator complex, some details of the STAR detector and its performance are presented.