IFPRI members have selected ‘attractive colloids and gelling systems’ as a possible priority topic within the general area of ‘wet systems’. As a start, a small one-year project was set up, in which 6 leading research groups accepted to collaborate in order to explore/demonstrate the potential, as well as possible routes, for IFPRI research in this domain. Here, the groups report their contributions with experiments on common model systems which where specifically prepared for this project. The results demonstrate that a wide range of experimental techniques is available that can be applied to gelling systems. Various rheological techniques have been used; they can be applied to all kinds of industrial systems. Other techniques probe the structure and the dynamics of the particles. Some of them operate time-resolved and/or during flow. They include e.g. confocal microscopy and scattering techniques (here light and X-rays have been used), these can be applied during flow. Also micromechanical tools are available, using e.g. optical tweezers. One of the groups put the results in a theoretical perspective, pointing out how such data could provide a basis for further theoretical modelling of gelling systems. On the basis of the results it can be concluded that IFPRI-stimulated research in this area could provide industrially relevant results at this stage.