As we enter the second year of the NIH Common Fund Glycoscience program to develop accessible tools for carbohydrate research, we encourage those who are new to carbohydrate chemistry and biology to bring their fresh perspectives to bear on difficult challenges in this field by applying through one of the following funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). While we continue to welcome applications from carbohydrate scientists, we hope to see new ideas from synthetic chemists and technology developers from other fields. Our goal is to enable researchers in all biomedical fields to study the roles of carbohydrates in health and disease, so approaches from outside the established glycoscience community are of particular interest. The application deadline for each FOA is October 15, 2015, with optional letters of intent due September 15, 2015:

• Facile Methods and Technologies for Synthesis of Biomedically Relevant Carbohydrates (U01)
• Novel and Innovative Tools to Facilitate Identification, Tracking, Manipulation, and Analysis of Glycans and Their Functions (R21)
• Novel and Innovative Tools to Facilitate Identification, Tracking, Manipulation, and Analysis of Glycans and Their Functions (U01)

For more information about the glycoscience program, view the technical assistance webinar held last year, or contact either one of us at sheeleyd@mail.nih.gov or marinop@nigms.nih.gov. A list of the first cohort of grants funded through this program will be posted on the NIH Common Fund website so prospective applicants can see projects underway.