Subject: First Electronic Glycoscience Conference

From: Barry Hardy <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 16:10:59 +0100

ELECTRONIC GLYCOSCIENCE CONFERENCE-1
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     The First Electronic Glycoscience Conference (EGC-1) will be held on 
the Internet (the Net) and World Wide Web (the Web) from Sept 18 - Oct 
13, 1995.  This international conference will cover a broad range of 
disciplines related to carbohydrate and glycoconjugate molecules 
including chemical, physical, biological and medical areas using 
theoretical, experimental and computational approaches.  EGC-1     
will be a fully international event open to all members of
our scientific community.  It is our intent that EGC-1 will be an 
historic occasion from which we will move forward towards further 
annual conferences and virtual resource creation for The Glycosciences.
     Although the conference runs for what looks like a long period of time 
by traditional standards, it is anticipated that participants might 
often interweave the conference with other activities in their regular 
schedule and thus have the flexibility to come and go to the conference 
(flexi-conferencing).  Participants should realise that this 
event is experimental and they should we willing to attend with a 
spirit of exploration and adventure.  We believe that many 
glycoscientists will benefit from an exposure to methods that
will revolutionize how we do science research and how we communicate as
scientists.  Also, in addition to the presentation of technical scientific 
information and results, we will use specific measures to strongly encourage 
cross-disciplinary communication in language intelligible to general 
scientists.  For example, all technical papers will require an accompanying
communication explaining the primary methods, results and conclusions
of the paper in language accessible to a general scientific audience.  
During and after the conference we anticipate the formation of 
connections and cross-references between diverse areas of science and
technology in the Glycosciences.  
     Conference subject areas will include Glycosyltransferases, 
Glycoimmunology, Primary Structure Determination, Glycolipids,
Organic Synthesis,  Molecular Modeling, Design and Informatics, Lectins, 
Polysaccharides and Cellulose, Proteoglycans and Glycosaminoglycans,
Therapeutics, Carbohydrate Biotechnology, Glycobiology, Crystallography, 
NMR, Function of Carbohydrates in Biological Systems, 
and Perspectives.
     Papers will be prepared in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and 
participants will view the papers via the World Wide Web.  Aid and 
consultation will be provided to participants during summer '95 to help
newcomers to the Web in the presentation of their conference paper. 
During the conference discussions will take place via email using a 
Net-based electronic mailing list.  It is intended that papers will 
be refereed prior to publication in both traditional and electronic formats.  
In addition to a full technical paper authors will be required to
produce a shortened version of their paper that will summarize the 
main approaches, results and conclusions of their work in language 
accessible to all general scientists.  
     During EGC-1 participants will be able to register at a Virtual 
Conference Center (VCC) created by Gustavo Glusman and the administrators 
of BioMOO, a virtual meeting place for biologists, through Net-based 
telnet sessions into a Networked Virtual Environment.  There they will be 
able to use their own rooms, schedule and attend meetings, hold private 
talks, take and exchange notes, visit interactive poster sessions, 
trade exhibits and an employment center, and socialize.
    During the conference participants will be able to contribute to
a collective creative project: The Glycoscience Hyperglossary (GH).
The GH will serve to define scientific terms and definitions of relevance
to the Glycosciences through the collective contribution of entries and
explanations to an electronic dictionary.  The GH will be then be 
published with the conference papers as an international information
resource subject to further refinement and evolution.

                    ********* :-) **********

DEADLINES AND DATES               

1) DO NOW - GIG mailing list

Conference-related news and announcements will be posted regularly 
to the GIG mailing list and the bionet glycosci newsgroup.  If you 
are not on the GIG list and want to be added to receive news on EGC-1
please email [email-masked]

2) DO NOW - Pre-Registration

If you intend to participate in EGC-1 please email your name, 
institution, address, phone, fax, and email address using 
the template for registration enclosed at the end of this 
announcement. It should be emailed to [email-masked]
You should pre-register even if you are not presenting a paper.
The deadline for pre-registration is Sept 1 1995.

3) DEADLINE for receipt of ABSTRACT.  

The deadline for receipt of paper and poster abstracts is July 1st. Email 
your abstract directly to the appropriate section convener listed below. 
Your abstract should be no longer than 300 words.

4) DEADLINE for receipt of PAPER. 

The deadline for receipt of papers and posters is Sept 1st.  You can either 
1) deposit your text and graphics files at the conference ftp site
or 2) send in the Web address from which you will serve the paper.

5) Conference Commencement

The Conference will commence on Monday Sept 18th.  The first week will
be used by registrants to register, to familiarize themselves with their
virtual surroundings and tools, and to commence reading of conference 
papers.  

6) The Conference

The main period of the conference will run from Monday Sept 25th to 
Friday October 13th during which discussions and meetings will take place.

7) Refereeing Period

The refereeing period will commence upon completion of the conference.
If you present a paper at EGC-1 you will be expected to contribute
a refereeing evaluation on another conference paper.  Referee reports 
will be due Friday November 10th.  Final revised papers are due by
Friday December 1st.  Posters will not go through the refereeing process.

                    ********* :-) **********

World Wide Web
**************

     Pages will be loaded on World Wide Web during Spring and Summer
'95 that will provide further details on EGC-1 including guidance
and advice in preparing paper text and graphics for display on the Web.

                    ********* :-) **********

Poster Sessions
***************

Poster sessions will consist of informal papers presented as Web pages 
which will be accompanied by discussions in the Virtual Conference Center.

                    ********* :-) **********

Trade Center
************

     The Conference will feature a Virtual Trade Center where commercial
vendors, consultants, manufacturers, and contractors will be able to
display their goods and services in return for donations of support 
to conference activities.

                    ********* :-) **********

Job Center
**********

     The Conference will provide Job Services in the Virtual Job Center
which will feature employment ads, interviews and aid in an interactive
environment.

                    ********* :-) **********

                  SECTIONS AND SECTION CONVENERS 

(Please email section conveners with questions related to 
your particular section and paper)

1. Glycosyltransferases 

Harry Schachter, 
Hospital for Sick Children, 
Toronto, Canada
Email: [email-masked]

2. Glycoimmunology 

Roy Jefferis, 
University of Birmingham, UK
Email: [email-masked]

3. Primary Structure Determination 

Dave Ashford, 
University of York, UK
Email: [email-masked]

4. Glycolipids 

Ronald L. Schnaar, 
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
Email: [email-masked]

5. Synthesis and Physical Organic Chemistry
 
Tim Gallagher, 
University of Bristol, UK
Email: [email-masked]

6. Molecular Modeling, Design and Informatics

Jerry Thomas, 
Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
Email: [email-masked]

7. Lectins 

Eric Toone,
Duke University, USA
Email: [email-masked]

8. Polysaccharides and Cellulose 

Andrepeter Heiner, 
State Research Center, Finland
Email: [email-masked]

9. Proteoglycans and Glycosaminoglycans 

Bob Lauder, 
University of Lancaster, UK
Email: [email-masked]

10. Glycotherapeutics 

G Turner
University of Newcastle, UK
Email: [email-masked]

11. Carbohydrate Biotechnology 

Liz Hounsell,
University College London
Email: [email-masked]

12. General Glycobiology 

Gerald W. Hart, 
University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA
Email: [email-masked]

13. Crystallography 

Bill Winter, 
State University of New York, Syracuse, USA
Email: [email-masked]

14. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Steve Homans, 
University of St. Andrews, UK
Email: [email-masked]

15. Function of Carbohydrates in Biological Systems

Diana Blythe
National Institutes of Health, USA
Email: [email-masked]

16. Glycoscience Perspectives: Past, Present and Future

Barry J. Hardy, 
Oxford University, UK
Email: [email-masked]

Iain Wilson, 
Institut fuer Bodenkultur, Wien, Austria
Email: [email-masked]

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE CENTER 

Manager  

John Towell,               
Northern Illinios University, USA
Email: [email-masked]

Aide        

Leonore A. Findsen,       
University of Hawaii, Hawaii, USA
Email: [email-masked]
 
TECHNICAL CONSULTANT

Alan Robinson
Oxford University, UK
Email: [email-masked]

Alan Robinson is providing conference participants technical support
now and during the conference.  He will try and help you with questions
related to using the Net/Web (setting up a server, writing hypertext), will 
be providing the group answers to frequently asked questions, and will 
provide advisory support on preparing papers on Web pages.  When sending 
him a query please try to solve the problem first yourself.  If you have a 
question please keep it clear and concise and place 'EGC QUERY' in your
subject heading.

CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS 

(Please email us with any general questions or comments)

Barry J. Hardy 
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Lab
Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3QZ, U.K.
Email: [email-masked]

Iain Wilson
Institut fuer Chemie Universitaet fuer Bodenkultur
Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33
A-1180, Wien, Austria
Email: [email-masked]

 "The difficulty in imagining the future
 comes from the fact that the important changes are not quantitative.
 The important changes are qualitative, not bigger and better rockets
 but new styles of architecture, new rules by which the game of
 exploration is played."

 Freeman Dyson

 *** EGC-1 : The Glycosciences Breaking through Boundaries ***********
 ****** with New Styles of Architecture and Exploration **************
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TEMPLATE FOR PRE-REGISTRATION: 

Please return the following card via email to 
[email-masked]

------------EGC-1 REGISTRATION---------------------
NAME:
INSTITUTION:
ADDRESS:
ADDRESS:
PHONE:
FAX:
EMAIL: