The science of carbohydrates has been studied for well over one hundred years, but it is only in the last few that the myriad roles played by cellular sugars in normal development and disease have been fully appreciated. This importance of carbohydrates is succinctly illustrated in the recent commissioned report by the National Academy of Sciences that outlines a roadmap for the future of glycoscience research and means to reach some of those goals. The 2013 Gordon Research Conference on Carbohydrates will bring together some of the most important players in transformative glycoscience, and serve as a forum for discussions on progress in those areas of glycoscience that are most in need of improvement: Glycan synthesis, analysis, detection, structure and informatics. The meeting will highlight the work of both established and younger glycoscientists through a nearly equal number of invited and short talks, including rapid "poster" talks to direct the audience to work presented at each of the poster sessions. Included will be a session entitled "Lessons from the Consortium for Functional Glycomics" that will bring together group leaders form the various core laboratories that comprised the consortium and discuss ways forward for the future of the technology that evolved from that experiment. The goal of this meeting will be to bring together both the primary players and those up and coming in the field to consider the most critical aspects of glycoscience and as a result make informed suggestions as to the way forward for the entire field.