Sweet Crosstalk is a multidisciplinary European Training Network built to address the challenge of understanding, at a molecular level, how glycans are involved at the human mucosa–microbiota interface, and how this correlates with human well-being. Research into the human microbiome has reshaped the paradigm of our health and disease. In order to advance further, the time has arrived to understand it at a molecular level. Glycans dominate the microbiota-host interface and are thus ideally positioned to modulate these complex interactions. The research strategy of the Sweet Crosstalk programme focuses on optimal synergy between chemistry and biology. Smart chemistry drives the research to get a molecular-level grip on the role of these glycocodes and their interacting proteins, and advances in biology directs the research. The high quality and credibility of our consortium is ensured by a strong private-public partnership with complementary expertise ranging from chemical synthesis, biochemistry, structural biology to microbiology and cell biology. Our 7 academic groups are all renowned leaders in the glycoscience and microbiome fields, whereas the complementary 4 SMEs are specialized in glycan-based diagnostics and prophylactic therapies. This unique combination of scientific excellence and industry know-how covers the entire process from obtaining fundamental insight to the development of innovative early diagnostics and glycotherapeutics. Sweet Crosstalk also represents a unique research platform to train 15 outstanding Early Stage Researchers to be the new generation of innovative scientists with expert knowledge and skills in interdisciplinary glycoscience and human microbiome research. Our international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary training programme will equip them with the necessary scientific and transferable skills that will make them highly competitive for both top European research institutions and the healthcare/biotech job market.

GLYTUNES is a multidisciplinary European Training Network on glyco-immune checkpoints built to address the main priorities of the National and European research council regarding the use of innovative methodological, interdisciplinary approaches for the treatment of human diseases. The GLYTUNES program is based on high-level multidisciplinary and multisectoral training to i) understand at the molecular and dynamic level how (aberrant) interactions between the immunomodulatory receptors Siglecs and their sialylated cognate ligands contribute to the etiology of immune-related diseases (infectious, and cancer diseases), ii) how to tune this axis to provide new therapeutic approaches for the rational design and development of glycomimetics targeting the Siglec glyco-immune checkpoints. To achieve this aim, an interdisciplinary, intersectoral, international European-based training programme within an outstanding collaborative research environment has been established, guided by leaders in their respective fields of research and in close association with industrial partners. GLYTUNES involves 7 academic partners and 4 companies (SMEs) from 7 European countries, combining world-class expertise in carbohydrate chemical and structural biology, drug design and computational chemistry, synthetic and medicinal chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, glycoimmunology and molecular and medical microbiology. GLYTUNES will train 14 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in a highly integrated and collaborative environment, underpinned by extensive interactions between academic and industrial partners and by their experience in higher education, training and mentoring, and endowed with state-of-the art scientific and technical expertise and infrastructures. The ESRs will thus acquire scientific and transferable skills to make them highly competitive and new leaders in top EU academia and research institutions, healthcare and biotech job markets.

Metabolic diseases are a burden on the European population and health care system. It is increasingly recognised that individual differences with respect to history, lifestyle, and genetic make-up affect disease progression and treatment response. A Systems Medicine approach, based on computational models fed with individual patient data, has the potential to provide the basis for a personalised diagnosis and treatment strategy. The PoLiMeR consortium (Polymers in the Liver: Metabolism and Regulation) has identified the inherited, liver-related diseases of glycogen and lipid metabolism as the ideal starting point for innovative research training in personalised ‘Systems Medicine’. Our perspective opens possibilities for the application of novel drugs and diagnostic tools to a range of both rare and frequent diseases. To advance diagnostics and treatment of metabolic diseases beyond the state-of-the art, a new generation of scientists is needed. The complexity of the metabolic network and its aberrant behaviour in disease require experts with a deep knowledge and understanding of Systems Medicine approaches. The lack of truly interdisciplinary researchers, trained in the three ‘pillars of Systems Medicine’ - experimental, computational and clinical research - severely hampers progress in this field. PoLiMeR aims to fill this gap and brings together clinical, academic, and industrial experts on inherited metabolic diseases, computational modelling of the entire human metabolism, organ-on-chip technology, and detailed metabolic profiling. Our mission is to train our Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to become dedicated Systems-Medicine experts, who can seamlessly collaborate between computational and wet-lab environments, and between clinical, academic, and industrial environments. This training will enable them to become the future leaders in the field and eventually make the difference for the patients.