The STAR (Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC) experiment located at Brookhaven National Laboratory has been studying relativistic heavy ion collisions since it began operation in the summer of 2000. RHIC is a unique accelerator which is capable of colliding heavy ions and polarized protons.  In my presentation I will provide an introduction to the physics topics which are being studied by the STAR collaboration and focus on photon induced interactions and diffractive program. I will review recent results and discuss future plans.