Prof. Md Tofazzal Islam is the Dean of Faculty of Graduate Studies and Founding Director of the Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (IBGE) at GAU, Bangladesh. He holds a PhD from Hokkaido University and completed prestigious fellowships including JSPS, Humboldt, Commonwealth, and Fulbright. A pioneer in climate-smart agrobiotechnology, he secured over $20M in grants to establish state-of-the-art research facilities. Dr. Islam gained global acclaim for leading the rapid response to the 2016 wheat blast outbreak using field pathogenomics and open science. His team developed a CRISPR-based diagnostic tool for the fungus and recently decoded the genome of year-round fruiting jackfruit. His discovery of 50+ novel bioactive metabolites offers new paths for disease management. With ~15,000 citations and an h-index of 62, he is a Fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, American Phytopathological Society (USA), BAAG, and TWAS. His honors include the BAS Gold Medal and the Commonwealth Innovation Award. His research, funded by the Gates Foundation, IAEA/FAO, BBSRC, and World Bank, continues to address global food security through frontier genomics and genome editing.

Professor Mihajlo (Michael) Jakovljevic MD, PhD, MAE is a Top-Notch expert in the Economics of Global Health and Sustainable Development of the Global South. This is witnessed by 20 years long track record of service on behalf of various UN bodies and leading multilateral agencies such as UNESCO, WHO, GBD Project, European Commission, Swiss SNSF, Japanese JSPS etc. Due to his pivotal role in collective achievements, Senior Leadership of University of Washington, appointed him GBD Principal Collaborator - Top Tier position in entire Hierarchy of GBD Project worldwide; Holds Professorship at Hosei University Tokyo, Japan, funded by JSPS; held Forte-funded Senior Visiting position at Lund University, Sweden, 2018-2020. He published almost 400 papers in refereed journals (176,000+ citations, Hirsch factor 107). In 2015, he was the first ever nominated candidate based in Eastern Europe for the Board of Directors elections of the International Health Economics Association IHEA. He remains the only UNESCO-TWAS Academician coming from Serbia. Stanford University, ranked him among the top ~3,000 global scientists (single-year impact, all citations), and top ~100 in his subfield (2025).

Jaye (DVM, PhD) is a Professor of Global Health Education and Researcher Leadership at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK, and Head of Research Training and Career Development at the Medical Research Council (MRC), The Gambia Unit at LSHTM. He was HIV Immunology Group Leader at MRC (1998–2018) and Interim Head of the Viral Diseases Program (2008). He headed the MRC West Africa HIV Collaboration Platform from 2010–2015 based at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. He coordinated two major capacity building network programs (WANETAM & WAPHIR) for the West African region for multi-centre clinical trial collaboration in HIV, TB and Malaria. He is a member of the MRC Leadership Board. He received professional recognition awards: Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation Leadership Award (2007); Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (2015); MRC Director’s Award for Inspirational Research Leader (2013); Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Science and Technology Award for outstanding contribution in the field of Viral Immunology and Research Training (2017); LSHTM Directors award for Excellence and Innovation in Developing Students as Researchers.

Jha is a Professor Emeritus at Tribhuvan University and a foremost ecologist of Nepal. He is credited for developing the ecology discipline in Nepal, and creating a strong network of ecologists in South Asia. He was born in Nepal in 1953 and completed his education in India, including MSc and PhD. He joined Tribhuvan University as Assistant Lecturer in 1976, retired as Professor in 1997, and appointed Professor Emeritus in 2017. He led the Botany discipline in Nepal as Head of the Central Department of Botany for almost a decade, taught at the post-graduate level for four decades, established a culture of research and publication, and inspired young botanists in the country for research. Jha is credited with supervising 11 PhD students at Tribhuvan University in the Institute of Science and Technology, the highest number in that institute. In addition, he has served as a reviewer of nearly five dozen PhD theses in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Australia. Jha is an Academician of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology. He has made significant contributions toward understanding the ecology and environment of Nepal.

Professor of Physics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) since 2002, Jorio de Vasconcelos earned his doctoral degree in physics from the same institution in 1999, working with phase transitions in incommensurate systems. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA (2000–2001), where he worked with the optical properties of nanomaterials, focusing on Raman spectroscopy and optical properties of carbon nanomaterials. Back to Brazil, he founded the Laboratory of NanoSpectroscopy (LabNS) at UFMG in 2006, where he works with research and development of scientific instrumentation in optics for the study of nanostructures with applications in new materials and biomedicine. He held the positions of Coordinator of Strategic Studies and Information at Inmetro (2008–2009) and Director of Technological Transfer and Innovation (2010–2012), head of the Physics Depart, and Dean of Research (2016–2018) at UFMG. He was a Visiting Professor at the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 2013) and at the Freie Universitat, Berlin, Germany (2016).

Kwok, MD, PhD, graduated at University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. After residency in dermatology and postdoctoral training at Washington University School of Medicine, USA, he joined its faculty in 1993. He was Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at Academia Sinica from 2017-2023, and Henry Bachrach Distinguished Professor at University of California San Francisco from 2002-2024. Kwok’s research focused on developing tools and strategies to study the human genome and the role of human variation in common diseases. He holds several patents on genomic analysis tools and played key roles in many large consortia, including the SNP Consortium, the International HapMap Project, the NSIGHT Consortium, and the CSER Consortium. He led the Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative, where a reference database with genetic profiles and clinical data of 500,000 people was built to improve health through disease risk prediction and tailored heath management guidelines. Kwok is a Fellow of the AAAS and the recipient of the 2022 Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research by the Human Genome Organization.

Mahadevan (PhD, 1998, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) is a condensed matter theorist working as a Professor at the S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, in India. She is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science, and was a Member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) C20 Commission on Computational Physics from 2015 to 2021. She has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials as well as of ACS Energy Letters since 2021. She was a recipient of the NASI (National Academy of Sciences, India)-Scopus Young Scientist Award in 2010 and of the TWOWS Award for Young Women Scientists in physics/mathematics in Asia region in 2010. Her research interests involve using a combination of ab-initio and model Hamiltonian methods in understanding properties of materials - with a focus on electronic structure and magnetism.

Mbacham is a Titular Professor of Public Health Biotechnology. He obtained a Doctorat de Specialité in Molecular Parasitology from the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon (1989), and a PhD in Tropical Public Health from Harvard, USA (1997). His research focuses on host and pathogen genomics and the interaction between communicable and non-communicable diseases at the University of Yaoundé I. He has served in leadership positions in many national and international programmes. He has developed a philosophical approach to Professionalizing Planning Actions in Science & Technology Education & University-based Research (Pro-P.A.S.T.E.U.R.) that integrates platforms for bioscience, physical sciences and research-uptake. He won the 2017 TWAS Regional Prizes in Public Understanding and Popularization of Science for sub-Saharan Africa. He was elected Chair of the Programme Management Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency-AFRA programme of 41 African member states (2015–2021). He has supervised some 95 graduates and 25 PhD students with more than 180 publications. He founded the Fobang Institutes for Innovations in Science and Technology (FINISTECH), Cameroon.

Mekonnen is a Professor of Cell and Human Physiology in the Department of Biology at the College of Natural and Computational Sciences of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. She has published extensively in different peer reviewed scientific journals on topics of respiratory physiology, medicinal plants and other related topics. She has advised many MSc and PhD students and she has also mentored young professionals, specially women, over the last three decades. She was involved in leadership positions and has initiated a number of national, continental and international research networks and collaborations. In 2013, she was able to establish with other colleagues the Society of Ethiopian Women in Science and Technology, to help empower and mentor women academicians and researchers in Ethiopia. In 2015, she received the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Scientific Award for Women in Science. She was appointed as Ambassador Scientist by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany as part of a worldwide network for excellence from 2016 to 2021. Currently she is the Principal Vice-President of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences.

Mitra is a Professor, Machine Intelligence Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. She was in the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen, Germany (1992–94) as a Fellow under the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). She was Visiting Professor at Computer Science Department, University of Alberta, Canada; Meiji University, Japan; and Aalborg University Esbjerg, Denmark. Mitra received the National Talent Search Scholarship (1978–1983) from National Council of Educational Research and Training, India; the University Gold Medal (1988); the Outstanding Paper Award (1994) by Transactions on Neural Networks, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), for her pioneering work in neuro-fuzzy computing, the CIMPA-INRIA-UNESCO Fellowship (1996), and Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellowship (2018–2020). She was the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) Chair Professor 2018–2020. Mitra has been awarded the prestigious J. C. Bose National Fellowship, 2021. She is a Fellow of IEEE, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR), Fellow of INAE, and of National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI).

Mukhamedov got his MSc in pure mathematics from the National University of Uzbekistan in 1996, and his PhD at the Institute of Mathematics (Tashkent), in 1998. In 1999–2005, he worked as an Associate Professor at the National University of Uzbekistan, where he then successfully defended his Doctor of Science degree (Habilitation). From 2005 to 2007 he held a postdoctoral position at the University of Aveiro (Portugal). He then joined the Faculty of Science, International Islamic University Malaysia, initially as an Associate Professor, and later as a Professor (2012). In 2016 he joined the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the United Arab Emirates University as Professor. Moreover, he was a grantee for several international congresses for mathematicians. From 2009 to 2015 he was a Junior Associate at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics. His research interests relate to operator theory, dynamical systems, non-commutative ergodic theory, p-adic analysis etc. He has published over 300 papers, and seven books/edited books, one of which is published by Springer. Since 1996, he has been teaching many different undergraduate and graduate math courses.

Naqib is currently serving as a Professor at the Department of Physics, University of Rajshahi, where he is leading the theoretical condensed matter research group. In terms of scientific productivity, this group ranks among the top in Bangladesh, and has been consistently producing high-quality publications in the fields of computational condensed matter physics, and superconductivity in hole doped cuprates. Naqib obtained his PhD from Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK, in 2003. He had postdoctoral experience both at the Quantum Matter Group, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK, and at the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, New Zealand. His research interests include superconductivity in high-Tc cuprates, magnetic and transport properties of strongly correlated electronic systems, DFT calculations on MAX phase nanolaminates, superhard materials, novel low-Tc superconducting systems and topological insulators, semimetals and superconductors. Naqib has published 130 papers in Scopus indexed journals of international repute so far. His papers have been cited over 2200 times.

Olago is Professor of Geology, Chairman of the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences, and Research Director, Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation, University of Nairobi. He has BSc and MSc degrees in Geology from the University of Nairobi and a DPhil degree in Physical Geography from the University of Oxford (Kenya Rhodes Scholar for 1990). His research interests are broadly in Quaternary and environmental geoscience, water resources and climate change. Olago has been involved in multi-disciplinary research, training and capacity building activities on global environmental change in sub-Saharan Africa for over 25 years. He has also contributed, as lead author, to the fourth and sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports. He is a fellow of the Kenya National Academy of Sciences, the Geological Society of Kenya, and the African Academy of Sciences.

Goulart graduated as a pharmacist at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, where she then got her PhD in Science (1983). She did postdoctoral studies in London, Münster, and Paris. She was a Visiting Professor at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Département de Chimie, Paris (2004–2005, 2007, 2008). She is now a Full Professor at the Federal University of Alagoas, Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology (UFAL); a researcher 1B at Brazilian Research Council (CNPq); and full member of the Brazilian Academy of Science (ABC), since 2015. She has published 210 articles, nine patents, 12 book chapters. She received several awards: Young Scientist Award by CNPq (1985); Foreign Young Chemist Award (1997) at International Symposium-Electroorganic Synthesis ’97, Japan; National Award Marie Curie - Distinguished Women on Chemistry by the Brazilian Society of Chemistry (SBQ) (2011); Jabuti Award (2012); Award Roberto Alves de Lima, by UFAL (2018); Prêmio Inovadores by Inova, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (2020); and Brazilian Women in Science, Scientific Leadership by SBQ/American Chemical Society (2021). She supervised 31 MSc, 40 PhD students and 10 postdoctoral fellows.

Omirov graduated in mathematics and applied mathematics from Novosibirsk State University (1993). From 1993 to 1996 he taught in Namangan State University as a Lecturer. Then he studied at the graduate school of the Institute of Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan (1996–1999). PhD and Doctor of Sciences theses were successfully defended at the Institute of Mathematics (Tashkent) in 2000 and 2006, respectively. From 2005 till 2016 Omirov worked at the Institute of Mathematics as Leading Scientific Fellow. Since 2016 he has been the Head of Department of Algebra and Functional Analysis at the National University of Uzbekistan. Omirov won the Postdoctoral Fellowship of the International Association for the promotion of cooperation with scientists from the independent states of the former Soviet Union (INTAS), Belgium (2005–2006). He was awarded the Diploma of Professor of Algebra (2013) by the Supreme Attestation Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. He was a Visiting Scholar at University of California, San Diego, USA, for 10 month in 2019–2020, thanks to a Fulbright Scholar grant.

Ouhabaz studied at the University of Marrakesh in Morocco and got his PhD in France in 1992. Early in his career, he was Researcher at the Technische Universität Berlin, and a member of the Max-Planck group at the University of Potsdam, Germany. Back to France, he was Associate Professor at the University of Marne-la-Vallée, next to Paris. He is currently Professor at the Institut de mathématiques de Bordeaux, University of Bordeaux. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Institut national des sciences mathématiques et de leurs interactions (INSMI), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). He was a scientific delegate at the Haut Conseil de l'Evaluation de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur (HCERES) and corresponding member of the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology, Morocco. He was the Head of the CNRS research group Functional Analysis, Harmonic Analysis and Applications, and Deputy Director of the Institut de Mathématiques de Bordeaux. He is the author of a book published by Princeton University Press and has written more than 68 research articles.

Panda (PhD, 1994, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India) is Director, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Mohali Punjab, India; and Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai. He was a Chair Professor of Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and also served as Head of Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay. He is a Fellow of National Academy of Sciences, India; Indian Academy of Sciences; and Indian National Science Academy. He received several awards and honours including G.N. Ramachandran Gold Medal, J.C. Bose National Fellowship; Tata Innovation Fellowship; Swarnajayanti Fellowship; Outstanding Research Investigator award by Department of Atomic Energy-Science Research Council; National Biosciences Award; Sun Pharma Research Award; Central Drug Research Institute Award for Excellence in Drug Research; S.C. Bhattacharya Award for Excellence in Pure Science of IIT Bombay; P. S. Sharma Memorial Award of the Society of Biological Chemists; and Fogarty International Research Award of the National Institute of Health, USA. He is an Associate Editor of BMC Molecular and Cell Biology.

Rada got her BSc in biochemistry and pharmacy from Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), Bolivia, and she holds a master's degree in public health with major in epidemiology. She works at the Cytogenetics Unit, Genetics Institute, Medicine School, UMSA. She was a member of the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Council for Science (RCLAC ICSU) and Past-President of the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Council of Science (RCLAC ISC). She was Focal Point for Bolivia in the Women for Science Program of the InterAmerican Association of Science Academies (IANAS). Ana is Co-Chair of the Liaison Committee of the Regional Focal Point-LAC of the International Science Council (LC ISC RFP-LAC). She is member of the National Academy of Sciences of Bolivia, member of the Latin American Network of Biological Dosimetry (LBDNet), member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), member of the Bolivian Genetics Society. She has published several scientific articles. The main research topics in which she is involved are: Human Genetics, Cytogenetics, and Biological dosimetry.

Saad (PhD, 1987, University of Zürich, Switzerland) is Professor of cell biology and immunology at the Arab American University in Jenin, Palestine (AAUP), and past President of the Al-Qasemi Academic College, Baga Algharbiya, Israel. He was: Scientific Director of the Research and Development Regional Centre - The Galilee Society, Israel; Dean of Scientific Research at AAUP, Dean of Scientific Research Center at Al-Qasemi Academic College, Israel; Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Research Centre at Al-Qasemi Academic College, Head of the Higher Education Council of Al-Qasemi Academic College, and member of the Palestinian Council for Higher Education. His prizes include the Best Research Award of the Swiss Surgical Society for the development of versatile biodegradable biomaterials, the Best Research Award of The Israeli Society for Complementary Medicine, and the Hijawi Awards of AAUP for best undergraduate research projects, and Best Researcher at AAUP. He is a member of the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC).

Sadunishvili graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1975 with a diploma in biology/biochemistry at the Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Georgian Academy of Sciences. She obtained her degree of Candidate of Science (1980) and Doctor of Science (1995) in biology with studies on the structure, kinetics and regulation of nitrogen metabolism enzymes. Since then, working as Head of Laboratory at Durmishidze Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology (DIBB), her research topics have expanded by studying structure-function changes in plant cells under contamination stress, microbial diversity, development of bio and phytoremediation technologies based on selected plants and microbial consortia, phytopathogenic bacteria and their specific bacteriophages. In 2013, she was appointed as Full Professor and Head of Department of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Georgia. In 2009, Sadunishvili was selected as Corresponding Member, and in 2015 Full Member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. She is an author of five monographs, and above 150 scientific publications, including reviews and book chapters.

Soboyejo is a materials scientist whose research focuses on the mechanical properties of materials. His work has explored the structure and properties of metals/alloys, intermetallics, ceramics, composites, porous materials, cancer cells/tissues, biomaterials, and materials for energy and the environment. He received his BSc in mechanical engineering from King’s College London in 1985, and a PhD in materials science from Cambridge University in 1988. He worked as a Research Scientist at the McDonnell Douglas Research Labs, USA (1988–1992). Since then, he has been a faculty member at The Ohio State University, MIT, Princeton, African University of Technology (AUST) and Worcester Polytechnic (WPI). Soboyejo served as President and Provost of AUST (2012–14). He then returned to Princeton (2014–16), before moving to WPI as the Bernard M. Gordon Dean of Engineering (2016–18). He was Senior Vice President and Provost at WPI from September 2018 to May 2022, when he was appointed as Interim President of WPI. He is the recipient of National Young Investigator Awards by National Science Foundation/Office of Naval Research. He is a Fellow of the US National Academy of Engineering.

Sokona (PhD, 1981, Ecole nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, France), with over 40 years of experience addressing energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa, has been at the heart of numerous national and continental initiatives. He is currently a Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) after serving as Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III, following being a Lead Author since 1990. He has a proven track record of organizational leadership and management, for example as Inaugural Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre and as Executive Secretary of the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory. He is affiliated with numerous boards and organizations, including, as Honorary Professor at the University College London, member of the African Academy of Sciences, and of the Science Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Applied System Analysis. In short, Sokona is a global figure, with deep technical knowledge, extensive policy experience and an unreserved personal commitment to African led development.

Tao is the Inaugural Director of the JD Explore Academy and a Senior Vice-President of JD.com, China’s largest online retailer. He is also an advisor and Chief Scientist of the Digital Sciences Initiative in the University of Sydney. He mainly applies statistics and mathematics to artificial intelligence and data science, and his research is detailed in one monograph and over 200 publications in prestigious journals, and proceedings at leading conferences. He received the 2015 Australian Scopus-Eureka Prize, the 2018 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM) Research Contributions Award, and the 2021 IEEE Computer Society McCluskey Technical Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for Computing Machinery and IEEE.

Teixeira graduated in biological sciences, and obtained a MS degree in molecular biology at University of Brasília (1986). She received her PhD in Biochemistry in 1990 from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and did postdoctoral training on molecular parasitology at the University of Iowa, in the US. In 1997, she became an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where she became a Full Professor in 2013. In 2005, she was awarded an international grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She acted as Vice-Head and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology at UFMG and President of the Brazilian Society of Protozoology (SBPz). She also acted as Head of the Centre for Vaccine Technology at UFMG (CTVacinas) where she is currently Vice-Director. For more than 30 years, she has studied genome, gene expression and host-parasites interactions involving Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania species with the aim of developing new treatments and methods to control Chagas disease and leishmaniasis.

Nísia Trindade Lima was the first woman to hold the position of Brazil’s Minister of Health (2023–2025) and to preside over the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz, 2017–2022). She holds a PhD in Sociology and a Master’s in Political Science. She is a Public Health researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Fiocruz, a professor in the Graduate Program in the History of Science and Health, and a collaborating professor in the Graduate Program in Sociology at Institute of Social and Political Studies of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (IESP-UERJ). Her work focuses on Brazilian social thought, public health ideas, and state-building. As Fiocruz president, she led the COVID-19 response and joined international efforts such as Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the Lancet Commission on Global Health Threats, and the Global Council on Inequality, HIV and Pandemics. She launched the Fiocruz Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, aligning the UN SDGs with institutional planning. A member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, she was awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honor by France. Since May 2025, she holds the Olavo Setúbal Chair at the University of São Paulo.

Val has been investigating environmental adaptations of fish of the Amazon, their use for food security, and fish farming for the last 40 years. He contributed to personnel training in the Amazon and headed the National Institute for Amazonian Research for 8 years. He is an accredited professor at the Graduate School of the University of Laval, Canada, and in local schools. He maintains intense international collaboration and is member of the Canadian Society of Zoology, the American Fisheries Society, the Society for Experimental Biology (UK) and of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, acting as its Vice-President for the Amazon. He was awarded: Commendation of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Class Commander, 2002, and Grand Cross Class, 2013), American Fisheries Society's Excellence Award (2004); Grand Order of Legislative Merit of the State of Amazonas (2008); Citizenship award of the Amazonas State (2015); and the prestigious Anísio Teixeira Prize for Higher Education (2016).

Von Braun is Distinguished Professor (em.) for Economic and Technological Change at Bonn University, Germany, in the Center for Development Research (ZEF). His research is on economic development, science and technology policy, poverty reduction, food and nutrition security, agriculture, resource economics, climate, and trade. He is President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican, and of various academies of science. In 2020 and 2021 he served as Chair of the Scientific Group for the Food Systems Summit 2021 of the UN Secretary General. From 2002 to 2009, he was Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Washington DC, USA. He was elected as President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), and received several national and international honors and awards.

Wang currently holds the C.N. Yang Professorship of Institute for Advanced Study at Tsinghua University. She is President of Chinese Association for Cryptologic Research (CACR), Vice-President of Chinese Mathematical Society, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) Fellow. She has been dedicating herself to cryptology and cryptologic mathematics. Main contributions were published in over 60 papers, many of which were in international top conferences in cryptology, including Crypto, Eurocrypt, Asiacrypt, Conference on Fast Software Encryption, etc. Her honours and awards include first prize of Chinese National Science and Technology Progress Award (2020), 2005 Test-of-Time Award for Crypto (2020), Levchin Prize for Real-World Cryptography (2020), Future Science Prize in Mathematics and Computer Science (2019), Special Prize for Cryptographic Innovation of CACR (2014), the Su Buchin Prize (2010) by China Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, second class prize of Chinese National Natural Science Award (2008), Tan Kah Kee Science Award (2006), and Qiushi Outstanding Scientist Award (2006).

Wu received her BSc degree in chemistry from Lanzhou University in 1990, and her PhD degree from the Institute of Photographic Chemistry, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of Professor Chen-Ho Tung in 1995. From 1995–1998, she worked at the Institute of Photographic Chemistry as an Associate Professor. After a postdoctoral stay (1997–1998) at the University of Hong Kong working with Professor Chi-Ming Che, she returned to the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as a Full Professor. In 2019, Wu was elected as a member of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research interests are focused on photochemical conversion, including artificial photosynthesis, visible light catalysis for organic transformation, and photoinduced electron transfer, energy transfer and chemical reactions in supramolecular systems. Her recent awards include the third Chinese Chemical Society-Evonik Chemical Innovation Award, the tenth Physical Organic Chemistry Award of China, and the seventh Young Women Scientists Award of China. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Sir Zumla was born in Chipata, Zambia in 1955. He is dually qualified in Medicine (MB.ChB) and Science (PhD). He nearly lost his life to meningitis when he was working as a junior doctor in London in 1982. He subsequently progressed to a meteoric, star-studded, and extremely successful career focussed on tackling killer infectious diseases. Sir Zumla's research, training, capacity development, advocacy and charitable contributions to World Health Organization's Research and Development Blueprint Priority Diseases of TB, TB/HIV, COVID-19, MERS, and other epidemic-prone Emerging and re-emerging infections, are an exceptional major body of work developed with an upward trajectory along these specific themes over three decades. As of Nov 2022, Sir Zumla has over 880 publications (inc. 760 PubMed; 22 medical textbooks; 67 book chapters, and 40 journal themed series). His Google Scholar H-index is 122, i10index is 560, with 68,200 citations. Sir Zumla has received over 28 prestigious accolades/prizes including: Knighthood from HM The Queen-2017; IUATBLD UNION MEDAL-2018; Mahathir Science Prize-2020; EU-EDCTP Pascoal Mocumbi Prize-2021; Roy.Soc.Trop.Med.Hyg Sir Patrick Manson Medal.

Aretxaga is a class-C researcher at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE), Mexico, a member of the Mexican National Researcher System (equivalent to Full Professor), and a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences (AMC). Since her arrival in Mexico in 1998, she has built her research group on galaxy formation and evolution and contributed to the development of the astronomy community. In 2011–2016 she was Head of Department of Astrophysics at INAOE. In 2006–2013, she coordinated the astronomy section of AMC. Since 2016, she has directed the International Schools for Young Astronomers of the International Astronomical Union, that bring education, development and networking opportunities to graduate students in isolated areas. The main focus of her research is to unravel the importance of massive star formation around supermassive black holes and their role in galaxy formation and evolution. She has coauthored over 140 research papers in Q1 journals, and has been invited more than 100 times to international conferences and other research institutes as a speaker. She also has an active outreach programme of talks, articles and pieces in social media.

Assem is vice-president of the Agricultural Research Center in Egypt. She was the former director of the Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Research Institute (ARC). She is specialized in plant molecular biology and biotechnology. She visited and exchanged her experiences as a visiting scientist at several universities and biotech companies in the USA. Assem is a member of the African Union High Level Panel on Emerging Technologies and the former vice-chair of the Genetic Sciences National Committee of the Egyptian Academy of Science and Technology, Egypt. She is a Fulbright Alumnus, USA (2002-2003). Assem is a member of the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Programme, Faculty of Agriculture, Banha University, Egypt. She was a team leader for one of the groups updating the Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy (2019) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt, and she received the FAO Prize 2017. She participated in several basic and applied national and international research projects, she has several publications in peer reviewed journals, and is a reviewer for some national and international funding schemes.

B. Noronha received his BS degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in 1987, MSc degree in 1989, from the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering (COPPE)-UFRJ, and PhD degree in 1994 from COPPE-UFRJ and Institut de Recherches sur la Catalyse – Lyon, France. In 1996, he joined the catalysis group of the National Institute of Technology, Brazil. He worked in a postdoctoral position with Prof. Daniel Resasco at Oklahoma University from 1999–2000. He has been a visiting professor in a research chair at the Ecole Centrale de Lille in the Biomass Valorisation Group at Unité de Catalyse et de Chimie du Solide since 2019. He is a category 1A researcher of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and a researcher of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Brazil. Since 2008, he has been one of the Brazilian representatives on the International Association of Catalysis Societies. In 2021, he was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Bernardo (PhD 1992, Yale, USA) is Distinguished University Professor and University Fellow, De La Salle University, Philippin. His research relates to polyculturalism and intercultural relations, hope and well-being, socioeconomic and other social inequalities, and sociocultural aspects of learning and achievement. He was President, Asian Association of Social Psychology; President, ASEAN Regional Union of Psychological Societies; President, Psychological Association of the Philippines; Chair, Philippine Social Science Council; Editor, Asian Journal of Social Psychology; Editor, The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. Presently, he is member of Executive Committee, International Union of Psychological Science. He received: International Prize for Literacy Research (UNESCO Institute for Education); Spencer Fellowship (US National Academy of Education); Fulbright Advanced Research Fellowship. In the Philippines, he received: Achievement Award (National Research Council of the Philippines), Outstanding Psychologist (Psychological Association of the Philippines). Elected to National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines, and Fellow of Asian Association of Social Psychology

Beyene earned his PhD in prehistory in 1992 from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France. He is researcher at the Ethiopian Heritage Authority and affiliated with the French Center for Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Beyene is Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences, and International Member of the American Academy of Sciences. He is recipient of the Order of Academic Palms from the French Ministry of Education, France. He is corresponding member of the Institut de paléontologie humaine (Paris, France) and of the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA), University of Sandiago, CA, USA. He is actively leading and co-leading paleoanthropological research programmes in Ethiopia. He represented Ethiopia in the World Heritage Committee at UNESCO between 2009 and 2012. He initiated and prepared the nomination file for the Konso Cultural Landscape on UNESCO’s World Heritage list (nominated in 2011). He also led the field research and preparation of the dossier for the nomination of the Gedeo Cultural Landscape for UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Bozza is a senior investigator and head of Laboratory of Immunopharmacology at Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Brazil; she got her MD from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, and her PhD in cellular and molecular biology from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Brazil. She received postdoctoral training under Dr. Peter Weller at Harvard Medical School as Pew Latin American Fellow. Bozza is a senior scholar of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Science. She has mentored the work of 24 postdoctoral, 29 PhD and 30 MSc students. Her group's long-term goal is to conduct translational studies that contribute new knowledge on the interplay of metabolic and inflammatory mechanisms in the pathogenesis of emergent and/or severe infectious diseases, aiming at identifying biomarkers and therapeutic targets, including dengue, Zika and COVID-19. In response to the COVID-19 emergency, her group characterized mechanisms involved in thromboinflammation and hypercoagulability in severe COVID-19 patients, and contributed to defining immunometabolic mechanisms involved in infection.

Caballero Mota received more than 105 awards and distinctions: Finlay Order; 10 Cuban Academy of Sciences Awards; TWAS Regional Partner's Award for Young Scientists (Computer Science) awarded by the Cuban Academy of Sciences; Distinguished Foreign Expert Award in the 100 foreign experts plan from Hebei province, China; Distinguished Researcher of Hebei International Studies University, China; Sofia Kovalevskaya Award; 5 Special Distinctions by Cuban Ministers; National Award for Young Researcher in the Category of Technical Sciences; Pablo Miquel National Prize form the Cuban Society of Mathematics and Computing; National Vanguard of the Science Union; several National Prizes awarded by the Youth Technical Brigades, 20 provincial CITMA Awards, among others. She has participated in more than 200 congresses worldwide. She has over 140 scientific publications, several of them within the Web of Science and referenced databases. She participated in more than 30 research and development projects and has 33 software registrations in her name at the Cuban Copyright Center. 33 diploma projects, 64 master's theses, and 10 doctoral theses have been defended under her tutorship.

Chakraborti (PhD, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Jadavpur University, India, 2003; and Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France, 2013) is professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. He was: registrar, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); dean, School of Computational and Integrative Sciences, JNU; dean of research and development, BML Munjal University, India; professor, chair of quantitative finance, Ecole Centrale Paris, France (now CentraleSupélec); lecturer in theoretical physics, Banaras Hindu University, India. He had postdoctoral tenures at Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA, and Helsinki University of Technology, Finland (now Aalto University). He is Founding Member, Center for Complexity Economics, Applied Spirituality and Public Policy, Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, OP Jindal Global University, India; International Member, Centro Internacional de Ciencias A.C., Cuernavaca, Mexico; council member of Centre for Quantum Social and Cognitive Science, Memorial University, Canada. He was awarded the Young Scientist Medal of the Indian National Science Academy (2009) for work in econophysics.

Cordoba De Torresi is professor, Institute of Chemistry of the University of São Paulo (USP). She graduated in chemistry (1983) and got her PhD (1988) at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, working with electrochemistry, spectroscopy and materials science. After a postdoctoral internship at Université Pierre et Marie Curie, National Centre for Scientific Research, France (1988–1990), she moved to Brazil as a researcher at State University of Campinas and Federal University of São Carlos. She joined the Institute of Chemistry, USP in 1996, and became a full professor in 2006. She has served as president of the Undergraduate and Graduate Commissions and vice-provost of research of USP. Her main interests are research on electrochromism, chemical sensors and electrocatalysis enhanced by plasmonics. She received: Tajima Prize from the International Society of Electrochemistry; National Order of Scientific Merit, Commander category, from the Presidency of the Republic; American Chemical Society Award for Brazilian Women in Chemistry, Scientific Leader category. She is a Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and of the Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo.

De Gouveia Dal Pino (PhD in astronomy, University of São Paulo, 1989) is full professor, Department of Astronomy, Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of São Paulo (IAG-USP), Brazil. She had postdoctoral affiliation at Harvard University (1991–1993), and was associated researcher at International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy (1994–2001). She introduced in Brazil high-performance magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations to model astrophysical sources: from solar interior, star formation regions, jets and black holes, to galaxy clusters. She has pioneering studies on MHD turbulence, magnetic reconnection, and cosmic ray acceleration in magnetized systems. She is Brazilian principal investigator of the largest gamma-ray observatory in construction, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), and of ASTRI Mini-Array—precursor of CTA. She is Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the Brazilian Astronomical Society. She was awarded the Claudia Prize of Woman in Science (2017), and holds the Jabuti Award for Best Scientific Book (2001). She supervised PhD thesis with national honors and Best Theses in Astronomy of IAG-USP.

Dikshit has made significant contributions to molecular pharmacology with special emphasis on redox/NO biology and metabolism. In the area of neutrophil biology she enhanced our understanding of how nitric oxide modulates neutrophil differentiation, survival, free radical generation, NETosis, chemotaxis, and microbicidal activity. She has investigated the role of iNOS in metabolic regulations and insulin sensitivity. She led the anti-thrombotic drug discovery team at Central Drug Research Institute, and one of their new chemical entities has received permission for phase I clinical trial in India. She initiated a programme on drug and biomarker discovery in the area of fatty liver disease at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, with significant contributions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, under a Department of Biotechnology - Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) project, she undertook preclinical and pharmacokinetic evaluations of AYUSH herbal formulations for mitigating SARS- CoV2 and associated pathologies. Dikshit has published 200+ papers, 23 reviews, and 8 patents, edited 3 books, and has supervised 37 PhD and 10 MD theses.

Djeffal is professor, University of Batna-2, Batna, Algeria. His contributions to materials science, solid-state devices and artificial intelligence (AI) have gained substantial research acclaim in the field of electronic device modeling and fabrication, specifically in the area of development of new high-performance and low cost microelectronic devices for renewable energy and environmental sensing applications, as evidenced by the number of citations for his published papers in a short span of time. In the context of microelectronic devices for renewable energy and environmental sensing applications, Djeffal has successfully developed new approaches and design techniques of microelectronic devices using soft-computing and AI-based methods. These approaches are now widely used by several scientific centers. He has published more than 300 journal articles and conference papers and is the author of some books and book-chapters in the field of photovoltaic devices/environmental sensors and soft-computing. Member of the African Academy of Sciences, he has received the Shoman Award for Arab Researchers, Africa Award for Young Researchers and Microsoft-TWAS-AAS Award, among others.