Anhydrobiosis, the possibility of life in almost no water, is a puzzling phenomena common to a wide class of organisms, ranging from plant seeds to crustacean cysts, that can survive to an almost complete removal of intracellular water and restore their metabolic activities when water is newly available. Central to anhydrobiosis is the ability to maintain a functional protein configuration in the dry state. A detailed description on how this is achieved is still lacking, but there is evidence that carbohydrates, such as trehalose, protect and stabilize protein structure. One of the first steps in protein folding, eventually leading to the formation of a functional globular protein, is the formation of a beta-turn by a peptide chain. Aim of this proposal is to investigate the formation of this beta-turn in presence of trehalose, first in solution and then at very low water content.