Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar and Marine Sciences (overview)  The Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar and Marine Sciences (OSL) was inaugurated in St. Petersburg, Russia, in October 1999. This project is part of a Cooperative Agreement on polar and marine research between the Russian and German Ministries of Science and Technology in order to promote the progress of science and closer collaboration between scientists and engineers of Russia and Germany, as well as to support young Russian scientists in polar and marine research. The OSL is housed at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in St. Petersburg and at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany. At the AARI it will be equipped with state-of-the-art standard laboratories for polar and marine research, and an international library. In addition, a fellowship program and a summer school will be organized.