We invite you to apply for membership as a Participating Investigator in the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG), a major research project aimed at understanding how glycan-binding proteins (GBPs) mediate cell communication by interacting with their cognate glycoprotein or glycolipid ligands. The stated mission of the CFG is to provide a networking forum and glycomics resources which enable our Participating Investigators (PIs) to reveal functions of glycans and GBPs in health and disease.

The CFG was formed in 2001 with funding from a Large-Scale Collaborative Project Award, or 'Glue Grant' from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). A transition to new funding was effected in 2011 following the end of the glue grant program. The Consortium is made up of Scientific Cores that each play a role in creating key material resources, generating novel program information, or both. Currently available resources include glycan array screening and a reagent bank offering carbohydrate compounds, antibodies and enzymes of use in glycomics research. By joining the Consortium, Participating Investigators benefit from access to these resources as well as information and data shared by other investigators.

If you are conducting research on mammalian glycan-binding proteins or their carbohydrate ligands, you are welcome to apply to become a Participating Investigator and integral component of the Consortium. Applications may be completed online.

Participating Investigators are required to have ongoing research, funded by non-Consortium sources, which is within the scope of the program. In return for material resources, Participating Investigators agree to deposit data into the Consortium databases. (See the Data Sharing Plan, which your institution must endorse to complete the application process.) Deposited data will be available for viewing by Participating Investigators on a confidential intranet website. Once information is made public by publication or presentation at a major conference, it will be moved to a public internet site.

We look forward to working with you on this exciting endeavor.

Best regards,