Victora (MD, 1976, Rio Grande do Sul; PhD, 1983, London) is Emeritus Professor, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil; past-president, International Epidemiological Association; member, Brazilian Academy of Science. He holds honorary faculty appointments at Harvard, Oxford and Johns Hopkins Universities, and an Honoris Causa Doctorate from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. His prizes include the Gairdner Global Health Award (Canada); Carlos Slim Prize (Mexico); Conrado Wessel Prize (Brazil); and National Order of Merit Medals in Medicine and in Science (Brazil). He has conducted extensive research in maternal and child health and nutrition, birth cohort studies, inequalities in health, and on the evaluation of the impact of major global health programs in a large number of countries. He coordinates the International Center for Equity in Health, which produces disaggregated analyses of indicators on women’s and children’s health and nutrition for the World Health Organization, Unicef and other international agencies. He has over 650 peer-reviewed publications and is a member of the editorial boards of several journals, including The Lancet.

Villa is an Associate Professor at the Department of Radiology and Oncology of the Faculdade de Medicina of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and Head of the Innovation in Cancer Research of the Center for Translational Research in Oncology of the Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP), São Paulo, Brazil. She graduated in Biological Sciences, USP and has a PhD in Sciences from the Institute of Chemistry of USP (1978). She was a researcher at the São Paulo branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research from 1983 to 2011, and was its director from 2006 to 2010. She is a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. In 2018 she received the Biology Prize from The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in Trieste, Italy. Her research involves studies about human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, anogenital cancer, head and neck cancer, HPV infections in women and men, prophylactic HPV vaccines. As of end-2019, she had published 334 scientific articles (h-index: WOS 60). She made more than 500 presentations as invited speaker in meetings throughout the world. She has mentored 13 MSc, 20 PhD students and 8 Pos-Doctoral fellows.

Wyse (PhD, 1995, Porto Alegre, Brazil) is full professor of Biochemistry of the Institute of Basic Health Sciences at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Her prizes include CAPES-Elsevier Award 2014, Pesquisador Gaúcho Award 2018 from the State Research Foundation and Scientist of the Year 2020 Award from International Achievements Research Center, USA. Her research work is focused on the neurotoxic mechanisms of homocysteine and neurometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as on neurobiology of menopause and neuroprotection, encompassing multiple experimental approach ranging from neurochemistry to behavior. Her studies have contributed to the understanding of biomolecule damage in hyperhomocysteinemic and homocystinuric patients and show potential to improve medical practice. She has published more than 400 scientific papers and has advised more than 70 masters and PhDs. Convinced that access to science and education are pillars to citizenship, she has launched a social project for underprivileged children of the public school system from the outskirts of her town, Porto Alegre. She published a book of poetry.

Zanotto holds a PhD in Glass Technology from Sheffield University, UK (1982). He is a professor of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the Center for Research, Technology and Education in Glass at UFSCar. He is interested in fundamental studies of glass crystallization and development of glass-ceramics with improved functionalities. He has published about 400 original and review papers, 30 book chapters, 2 books and deposited 29 patents. He is an editor of the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, and board member of nine other scientific journals. He is a member of the World Academy of Ceramics, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the São Paulo State Academy of Sciences, The National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the SGT (UK), American Ceramic Society, Brazilian Ceramic Society, and TWAS. He has received over 50 awards, including the Brazilian Order of Scientific Merit, Grã-Cruz, A^3 Prize, TWAS Engineering Prize, and six important glass research awards: Zachariasen Award 1990, Gottardi Prize 1993, George W. Morey Award 2012, A. Cooper Lecture, Turner Lecture and S. Schooles Lecture. Zanotto is in the Council of seven research institutions.

Michel López’s distinguished career reflects a profound commitment to academic research, teaching, and cultural heritage preservation. He founded Bolivia’s first salvage archaeology company, Empresa Consultora de Arqueología ECOAR and possesses extensive knowledge of Bolivia’s protected areas. From 2005 to 2011, as the director of the Institute of Anthropological and Archaeological Research at San Andrés University in La Paz, he spearheaded groundbreaking research and mentored future generations of scholars. His dedication to education has enriched academic discourse, ensuring the transmission of knowledge. From 2011 to 2015, as director-general of the Cultural Heritage at Bolivia’s Ministry of Cultures and Tourism, he led initiatives that secured UNESCO’s World Heritage status for the Ichapekene Piesta of San Ignacio de Moxos (2012), the Qhapaq Ñan (Andean Road System) and the intangible heritage of the Pujllay Ayarichi (2014). He also championed Bolivia’s Cultural Heritage Law (530), enacted in 2014. His academic contributions span diverse topics, including the pre-Columbian settlement of Tarija, ancient hydraulic systems in Beni, and the Inca conquest of Bolivia.

Moraes R., biologist (PhD, 1996, Aarhus University) is professor and researcher, Herbario Nacional and Instituto de Ecología at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz; member of the Academia de Ciencias de Bolivia. She documented flora and vegetation in the lowlands of Bolivia and is specialist in the study of native palms of Bolivia. Her prizes include 2006 Jubilee Award from the International Foundation for Science; 2016 Procer Pedro Domingo Murillo in the Degree of Civic Honor of the Municipal Council of La Paz; 2017 Grand Master in the Adela Zamudio degree, Chamber of Deputies. She published 86 scientific articles: 21 edited books; 77 chapters; 29 prologues, editorials and other publications; among others. In 2013 she created the Marie Curie award at the Bolivian science academy to recognize Bolivian female scientists abroad. She was the first women scientist elected to be president of the Bolivian science academy (2021-2024). She is member of MESAG for GEO7 of the UNEP (2023-2025).

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 is Researcher at the Cytogenetics Unit, Genetics Institute, Medicine School, UMSA and a Professor, Assistant Professor, and Guest Professor in several national and international courses. 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 is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Bolivia, focal point for Bolivia in the Women for Science programme of the Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences, member of the Latin American Network of Biological Dosimetry, member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, member of the Bolivian Genetics Society. She has published a book chapter and several scientific articles. Her main research topics are: human genetics, cytogenetics, epidemiology of genetic diseases, and biological dosimetry.

Toledo, a Bolivian biologist who earned a PhD in 2010 from Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands, is a professor, researcher, and laboratory coordinator in the Biology Department at Gabriel René Moreno University in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. She held the position of botanist in the BOLFOR project, research coordinator in the Bolivian Institute of Forest Research, and executive director at Noel Kempff Mercado Museum of Natural History. Toledo studied the vegetation diversity and structure, and the plants used by indigenous peoples in the Bolivian lowlands. From her participation in several projects, she obtained many publications, including book chapters, books, and scientific papers. She also presented results at (inter)national congresses and has made contributions to human resource development by supervising graduate students and training local people. She was chief editor of the Journal of the Bolivian Botany Society and the Kempffiana Journal. Currently, Marisol Toledo is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Bolivia; National Advisory Committee of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund; and in international research networks ( RAINFOR, 2ndForests).

Jean-Pierre EZIN is Emeritus Professor of mathematics of Université d'Abomey-Calavi. He held doctorat d'Etat in Geometric Analysis at Université Lille I, France. He has been Professor at Université Nationale, Bénin since 1982 ; senior lecturer at Université Lille I (1973-1982). He has been researcher at Abdus Salam ICTP,Trieste, Italy (1986-1988).He also was Commissioner of Economic Community of West African States for Education,Science and Culture from 2014-2016 and Commissioner of African Union for Human Resource,Science and Technology from 2008-2013. He is Founding Director of Institut de Mathématiques et de Sciences Physiques, Bénin from1988-2008. In between he was Recteur Université Nationale, Bénin (1990-1992).As other implications, he was member of Board of Council Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) of NSF, USA, and of Board of Council International Science Programme (ISP), Sweden from 2010-2013 and from 2011-2015 Chairperson of Agence Inter-établissement de Recherche pour le Développement (AIRD),France. He is initiator and founding member of Bénin Academy of Science. In 2014 he was honored by TWAS special Award " for building science capacity in Africa".

Mahouton Norbert Hounkonnou is a full Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin. His works deal with noncommutative and nonlinear mathematics, and complexity. He authors books. He serves as a member or associate editor of editorial boards for renowned book series and journals in mathematics and mathematical physics. He supervised 37 PhD and 40 M. Sc. students from various continents. He was awarded a series of recognitions for the excellency of his works such as the Prize of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 1996, the Tokyo University of Science President Award in 2015, and the 2016 World Academy of Sciences C. N. R. Rao Prize for Scientific Research "for his incisive work on noncommutative and nonlinear mathematics and his contributions to world-class mathematics education ";. He is the President of the Network of African Science Academies, former President of the Benin National Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. His membership extends to African Academy of Sciences, Academy of Science of South Africa, Académie Hassan II des Sciences et Techniques du Maroc, InterAcademy Partnership Advisory Committee, etc.

Em. Prof. Baron Marc Van Montagu (PhD, Organic Chemistry/Biochemistry, Ghent) is Chairman of the VIB - Intl. Plant Biotechnology Outreach and Pres. of PRRI. He discovered, with J. Schell, the Ti-plasmid and invented the Agrobacterium transformation technology, now used worldwide to produce GM plants. He made major contributions on fundamental plant sciences and on biotech agriculture, such as GM plants resistant to insects or tolerant to more environmentally friendly herbicides. He was Founding Member and Member of the Board of Directors of the biotech companies Plant Genetic System (PGS) and CropDesign, spin-offs from his laboratory. He has received numerous honours, including the Japan prize (1998), and the World Food Prize (2013). He is member of seven scientific academies worldwide, and Goodwill Ambassador for Agribusiness at UNIDO. He has produced +1000 publications, h-index 125.

Ali is the honorary chief scientist and advisor of the Pothikrit Institute of Health Studies (PIHS) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the chair of Pothikrit Foundation, a PIHS parent nonprofit organisation working for socioeconomic development and liberal cultural environment. He earned his PhD in 1990 from Uppsala University, Sweden. He was a professor of medical biochemistry and cell biology in institutes at Dhaka University, vice-chancellor at Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, president of the Bangladesh Society of Medical Biochemists, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Endocrine Society, a public health advisor of the government during COVID-19 pandemic, and a reviewer-designer of the 4th and 5th health sector programmes. As a short-term consultant, he has served various organizations like WHO, UNICEF, and USID. He is now an expert member of the Primary Health Care Forum of WHO-SEARO, and a distinguished visiting scientist of COMSTECH-OIC. He has been honoured by organizations like the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Islamic World Academy of Sciences, Indian Public Health Association, and Indian Association for the Study of Asian Traditional Medicine.

Banu's research focuses on mycobacterial infections, epidemiology, diagnostics, and therapeutics, all fields where she has fostered international and national collaborations. She is currently a senior scientist and head of the program for emerging infections under the Infectious Diseases Division at icddr,b, where she has been working since 1991. Among her achievements are establishing the state-of-the-art BSL 2+ mycobacteriology laboratory at icddr,b; conducting the first-ever MDR-TB sentinel surveillance in Southeast Asia; bringing in new tools and technology in advancing TB diagnosis and management; research on TB prevalence and transmission in prison settings; standardizing stool processing method for Xpert MTB/RIF assay; and the successful development and implementation of an innovative social enterprise model for TB diagnosis and management in the private sector which has been incorporated in the National Strategic Plan. Banu is a fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, and serves as a member in several scientific/programme committees, and has over 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Professor Shah Faruque works in the School of Life Sciences at Independent University Bangladesh (IUB). Previously he was a Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology in BRAC University. He was also the director of the Genomics Centre at International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), and formerly director of the Centre for Food and Waterborne Diseases in icddr,b. He maintained a research team in Life Sciences for over two decades, and while staying in Bangladesh conducted cutting edge research. He obtained research grants from prestigious institutions including the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Harvard Medical School, USAID, Swedish International Development Agency, and the Wellcome Trust. Prof. Faruque obtained BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees in Biochemistry from Dhaka University, and a PhD. in Molecular Biology from the University of Reading in the UK. Prof. Faruque has authored numerous original research papers, reviews, and book chapters, and has edited a number of text books. His works have been published in top ranking international journals, including Nature, PNAS and Lancet. He was awarded the TWAS Prize in Medical Sciences in 2005.

Hasanuzzaman is a professor of agronomy at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He earned his PhD at Ehime University, Japan, and completed his postdoctoral research at the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. Subsequently, he became an adjunct senior researcher at the University of Tasmania. Hasanuzzaman has more than 400 Scopus-indexed publications, of which more than 250 in the Web of Science. His publications are cited over 31500 times as per Scopus with an H-index of 91 (as of June 2025). He is an editor and a reviewer for more than 80 peer-reviewed international journals and the recipient of Publons Peer Review Award (in 2017, 2018, and 2019). In 2014, he received the TWAS Young Scientist Award. He was also awarded the University Grants Commission Gold Medal, the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Gold Medal Award, the Global Network of Bangladeshi Biotechnologists Award and the Society for Plant Research Young Scientist Award. He is a Fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of Biology, and the Linnean Society of London. He was named as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate (2021, 2022).

Islam, an internationally reputed scientist in agrobiotechnology, has played a key role in establishing the Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering at BSMRAU, Bangladesh. He did PhD at Hokkaido University (HU), and postdoctoral research at the HU, University of Goettingen, University of Nottingham, and West Virginia University under the fellowship programs of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Alexander von Humboldt, Commonwealth, and Fulbright, respectively. He is one of the top 2% of researchers in the world. He collaborated with Sophien Kamoun and led international scientists to rapidly identify the origin of the first epidemic outbreak of wheat blast in Bangladesh. His team developed a novel rapid diagnosis of wheat blast fungus in collaboration with researchers in China and the USA. He is Editor-in-Chief of Bacilli and Agrobiotechnology, and CRISPR-Cas Methods, and Editor of Physiologia Plantarum, Scientific Reports, Physiologia Plantarum, PLOS One, Frontiers in Microbiology, and CAB Reviews. He is an elected Fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences and the American Phytopathological Society. He received many awards and medals for his accomplishments.

Jahiruddin (PhD, 1986, Aberdeen University) is a Professor of Soil Science, former Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and former Associate Director of Central Laboratory at Bangladesh Agricultural University. He obtained BAS Gold Medal Award 2009, Global Research Impact Award 2017, BAAG Gold Medal Award 2018 and Soil Care Award 2018. He is a Fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS). Professor Jahiruddin has a very high record of research publications in relation to Micronutrient problems, arsenic contamination and conservation agriculture. He worked as a team leader for research priority setting in agriculture and development of vision document -2030 and beyond in Bangladesh: Land and Soil Resource Management.

Kabir earned his MSc in biochemistry in 1983 from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB), University of Dhaka (DU), Bangladesh and his PhD in nutritional biochemistry in 1990 from the Laboratory of Nutrition, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, Japan. He then held a postdoctoral position under a joint fellowship with the United Nations University and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at the National Food Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan (April 1994-April 1995). He was a professor at BMB, DU from December 1997 to January 2023, when he retired. Previously he was associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Life Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait (September 2004–June 2009, on leave from DU); associate professor, BMB, DU (December 1991–December 1997); assistant professor, BMB, DU (April 1990–December 1991); and lecturer, BMB, DU (April 1984–March 1990). He was a visiting scientist as a JSPS Fellow at Tohoku University, Japan (December 2003–May 2004); and at Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Karlsruhe, Germany (August 1998–March 1999).

Mamun obtained his BSc (Honours) and MSc (Thesis) from Jahangirnagar University, and secured 1st class 1st position in both the examinations. He received his PhD degree from the University of St. Andrews (UK) under the Commonwealth Scholarship. Mamun was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (Germany), the Commonwealth Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (UK), the Max Planck Research Fellowship (Germany), among others. Mamun received the AvH the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award in 2009. He was awarded the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Gold Medal in 2004, the TWAS Prizes for Young Scientists in Developing Countries in 2006, among other recognitions. He has published over 400 research articles in peer-reviewed international journals, and has written a textbook published by the Institute of Physics (London).

A medical doctor with 30 years of health research experience in Bangladesh, including a research track record in disease epidemiology, population studies and health systems research, Naheed joined the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) in 1994 after earning a degree in medicine from the University of Dhaka (1992). She began a research career in infectious disease epidemiology after obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins University (US), in 2002. After obtaining a PhD from Tulane University (US) in 2012, she focused on noncommunicable diseases and, after postdoctoral training from the University of Melbourne, Australia (2015), focused on health systems research. She served as the head of the Initiative for Noncommunicable Diseases at the Health Systems and Population Studies Division at icddr,b for eight years (2015–2022) where she is currently a senior scientist with the Nutrition Research Division. She received the Bangladesh Academy of Science Sultan Ahamed Choudhury Science and Technology Gold Medal Award in 2021, and in 2022 was elected to the fellowship of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.

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.

Qadri (PhD 1980, Liverpool) is Senior Scientist, Intl. Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Res., Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). Her work on infectious diseases and vaccines is carried out in collaboration with intl. and natl. organizations. She began her career (1981) as Asst. Prof., Dept. of Biochem., U. of Dhaka. She joined ICDDR,B in 1986 as a Post-doctoral Fellow and has remained there. She is overseeing a large feasibility study for introducing cholera vaccine in high risk people in the country. She has published +334 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her honours include: Gold medal from the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences for outstanding research in Biological Sciences for 2006. Prof. C.N.R. Rao Prize for Sci. Res., TWAS; Hon. Intl. Fellow, ASTMH; Ambassador, Am. Soc. for Microbiology (ASM) for Bangladesh; Christophe and Rodolphe Mérieux Found. Grand Prize, French Acad. of Sci.; Fellow, Bangladesh Acad. of Sci.; Member of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Tech. Bank for the LDCs.

Raqib, received her MSc degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Dhaka University and her degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Medicine from Karolinska Institute, Sweden (1990-1995). She then returned to Bangladesh in 1995, to join as assistant scientist the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), where she was promoted associate scientist and then scientist in 2002 and 2006, respectively. Raqib received post-doctoral fellowship award from the Ellison Medical Foundation in 2005. She was appointed as the head of the Nutritional Biochemistry Lab in 2008 and was promoted to senior scientist in 2010, and to international senior scientist the next year. Raqib developed an immunological method to diagnose active tuberculosis which was patented in the USA (co-inventor David Sack). Her work on host directed therapy in infectious diseases with Agerberth and Guðmundsson generated first human data of successful clinical recovery, leading to two patents. Her studies on arsenic-mediated immune modulation generated new human data. She has published over 153 peer reviewed articles and mentored several MSc, PhD and post-doctoral students.

Seraj has been teaching molecular biology and working on ways for producing salt tolerant rice for Bangladesh using molecular biological and biotechnological approaches. Along with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), she helped fine-map salt tolerant loci from Pokkali for introgression in a marker-assisted backcrossing approach into commercial rice. She has characterized many Bangladeshi rice landraces as salt tolerant and elucidated the mechanism of Horkuch, whose loci are being introgressed into commercial rice using fluorescent markers. She is working on the only halophyte which can set rice-like grains and which is endemic to the whole coastline of Bangladesh. Several genes from this Oryza coarctata have been cloned into salt sensitive rice. In addition several regulatory genes known to confer salt tolerance have been cloned into sensitive rice. She is the founder director of a center under Dhaka University for conduction of online bioinformatics classes from January 2017. She has supervised 11 PhD students and over 70 Masters students. She has organized many conferences and workshops in Molecular Biology.

Shahnaz, Senior Members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Fellow of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, received her PhD degree from Concordia University, Canada, as a winner of the Canadian Common Scholarship. She has been a professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology since 2015. She was a recipient of Bangladesh Academy of Science Gold Medal for her contributions in science and technology. Recently, her nomination has been approved and she has been inducted into IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu as a Professional Member into the Eta Chapter of the board of governors. She has been elected as 2022 IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Committee chair-elect and she is serving as the 2023–24 IEEE WIE committee chair. She has been appointed as 2022–23 member, IEEE New Initiative Committee; 2021–23 Member, IEEE History Committee; liaison between IEEE History Committee and IEEE WIE. She has served as 2021–23 chair, IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) Women in Signal Processing; 2021–23 liaison between IEEE SPS and IEEE WIE; 2021–22 member, IEEE Educational Activities Board Faculty Resource Committe.

Shamsher Ali (PhD from Manchester University, UK, 1965) was President of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS) (2004-12); Founder Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh Open University (1992-96); Founder Vice-Chancellor, Southeast University, Dhaka (2002-10); Professor of Physics, DU (Dhaka University: 1982-2006); served the Atomic Energy Commission (1961-1982); was Director, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka (1970-78); is now life-long Honorary Professor of Physics (DU), Professor Emeritus, Southeast University; Awards include Hari Prasanna Roy Gold Medal, DU; BAS Senior Gold Medal; Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah Gold Medal and TWNSO and ROCASA Award for Communicating Science to the Public [see Springer (Opportunities and Challenges for the Asia-Pacific Region, Editors: Tan Wee Hin, Leo, Subramaniam, R. (Eds.)];; elected to Honorary Fellowship (the highest award) of World Innovation Foundation (HQ in UK) founded by Nobel Laureate Dr. Glenn Seaborg; Fellow, Islamic World Academy of Sciences and BAS;. Ali-Bodmer alpha-alpha potential(named after me and Bodmer) is of interest also to Astro Physics and is being used since 1966 in researches on nuclear cluster models and on nucleo synthesis in Supernova.

Gingrich is full professor at the Department for Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Real member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and Director of the Institute for Social Anthropology of the ÖAW. Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Member of the Publishing House Committee of the ÖAW. He obtained his PhD in 1979 at the University of Vienna. He has served as a Delegate in the Assembly of the Austrian Science Fund. He was a founding member of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) and he was a Panel Chair for the European Research Council, Advanced Grant SH2. His awards include the Wittgenstein Prize, City of Vienna Award in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Cultural and Legal Studies.

Alpers was educated at Adelaide U. and Cambridge U., UK (Makin scholar). He is emeritus professor of international health at Curtin U. in Perth, Australia. He was previously: John Curtin distinguished professor, Curtin U.; research officer, Kuru Research, Okapa, Territory of New Guinea 1961-63; visiting scientist at NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 1964-67; research fellow, dept. of microbiology, Univ. of Western Australia, Perth 1968-76; and dir. of the Papua New Guinea Inst. of Medical Research 1977-2000. His awards include: Medal, Collѐge de France; Macdonald Medal, Royal Society Trop. Med. Hyg., London; Queensland Inst. Med. Res. Fellow; PNG Inst. Med. Res. Fellow; Hon. Internatl. Fellow, Am. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg.; Inaugural Life Member, Med. Soc. Papua New Guinea; Fellow, Royal Society of London and Australian Acad. of Science; Companion of the Order of the Star of Melanesia (PNG); and Officer of the Order of Australia.

Bhargava is a world-renowned multidisciplinary scientist with decades of leadership in the academia and industry. His contributions in nanotechnology, catalysis and metallodrugs for cancer treatment are outstanding. His award-winning Global PhD programme with the laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of the Ministry of Science and Technology broke new ground and established a unique connection between his native India with his adopted Australia. Regarded as the topmost researcher in mercury pollution control, Bhargava's achievements place him among the top 1 per cent scientists in mines and mineral engineering. He has co-authored over 600 highly-cited refereed journal articles, two books, 14 book chapters, 12 relevant patents, more than 120 lectures. He is known as a solution-provider to many industries. Holding distinguished professorships at top universities in six countries, he is an outstanding ambassador of Australian higher education around the world. An inspirational figure to many, he pushed boundaries and developed innovative ways for how universities should collaborate with industry, creating jobs and changing lives.

Jagadish is a distinguished professor and the head of the Semiconductor Optoelectronics and Nanotechnology Group at the Australian National University. In 2021, he has been appointed president of the Australian Academy of Science, the latest of a long list of prestigious leadership activities. He has covered important editorial position in over 10 scientific journals. He published more than 650 journal papers, holds five US patents, and contributed, as co-author or co-editor, to over 15 books. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science; a distinguished Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; a visiting professor at Oxford University, UK; a distinguished chair professor for research at the National Taiwan University, among many other positions. Among his awards are: the Lloyd Rees Memorial Lecture by the Australian Academy of Science (2020); the Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal by the Australian Academy of Science (2019); and UNESCO Medal for contributions to the development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (2018). In 2025, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (UK).

Professor Kadambot Siddique obtained his PhD in 1985 from The University of Western Australia. Currently Hackett Professor of Agriculture Chair, and Director, The UWA Australia Institute of Agriculture. He is Fellows of The World Academy of Sciences, Pakistan Academy of Sciences, African Academy of Sciences, Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Agriculture Institute of Australia and Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He was designated by United Nations FAO as special ambassador for the International Year of Pulses 2016. Highly Cited Researcher in 2019-2023 in Agricultural Sciences and double Hi Ci in 2021-2023 in Agricultural Sciences and Plant & Animal Science (Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics). Professor Siddique is the recipient of national and international awards. In 2025 was bestowed Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by Kerala Agricultural University, India and 2024 Crawford Fund Medal in recognition of considerable and continued contribution to international agricultural research through the Crawford Fund’s programs and related activities. Awarded Western Australian Scientist of the Year 2023.

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.

Prof. Rajeev Varshney is an agricultural research scientist specializing in genomics and molecular breeding with 20+ years of service in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. He is serving Murdoch University as a Director, Centre for Crop & Food Innovation; Director, State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre: and International Chair in Agriculture & Food Security with the Food Futures Institute. Prior to joining Murdoch University, Prof Varshney served International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) for about 16 years in various science and leadership roles and Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics & Crops Plant Research, Germany for 5 years as a Research Scientist. Prof. Varshney is a globally recognized leader for his work on genome sequencing, cataloguing and utilizing genetic diversity, genomics-assisted breeding and capacity building in developing countries. He has made centrally important contributions towards improving food and nutrition security in India and several countries in Africa & Asia by assembling genomes, developing genomic resources and integrating genomic technologies in crop improvement programs in many tropical crops.