Pal is a distinguished scientist and former Director of Indian Statistical Institute. He founded its Machine Intelligence Unit & the Natl. Center for Soft Computing in Calcutta. Currently, he is a SERB-National Science Chair; ISI-President and Emeritus Professor; and AICTE-Distinguished Chair Professor. Obtained PhD (Sc) from Calcutta U. and PhD (Engg) & DIC from Imperial College, London. Worked at UC Berkeley; UMD, College Park; NASA JSC, Houston; and US Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC. His awards include: SS Bhatnagar; Padma Shri; GD Birla; OP Bhasin; J Nehru Fellowship; FICCI; Vikram Sarabhai; IETE-Wadhwa Gold Medal; INSA-Zaheer Medal; ISC-PC Mahalanobis Gold Medal; INAE Chair Professor; INSA Distinguished Professor; INAE-SN Mitra; INSA-JNBC Lecture; JC Bose Natl. Fellow; DAE Raja Ramanna Fellow; Al-Khwarizmi Intl. 1st Prize; NASA Space Act Tech Brief; NASA Patent Appl.; IEEE Distinguished Speaker; IEEE NN Soc. Outstanding Paper; NRC (USA) Senior Associate; and IEEE Editor. He is Fellow of all 4 Indian sci. and engg. academies, IEEE, IAPR, IFSA, IRSS & AAIA; and Member of European Acad of Sci & Arts. He has visited 45 countries as keynote/invited speaker and academic visitor.

Patnaik is INSA Senior Scientist and Adjunct Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies,and was Vice Chancellor, Defence Inst. of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Deemed Univ., Pune, India. He was previously Honorary Professor, Dept of Electronic Systems Engg, Prof., Dept. of Computer Science and Automation, and Convener, Computational Neurobiology Group, IISc. He obtained his PhD (1978) and DSc (1989) in computer science and engineering from IISc. He has been honoured with over 20 awards for contributions to electronics, communications, and information technology including the Technical Achievement Award (1999), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA, Computer Society; Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Natl. Award for Engineering and Technology, 1999; and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Award for Innovation in Applied Research, 2002. He is a Fellow of IEEE and all 4 leading science and engineering academies in India.www.lmpatnaik.in.

Ramos is recognized for his studies on tectonic evolution of the South American basement and the Andes, in particular for his research in structural geology and tectonics. He is Emeritus Professor at the Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), and a researcher of the Instituto de Estudios Andinos of UBA-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). He is an honorary member of the Geological Society of America and of the Asociación Geologica Argentina, and a member of the national academies of sciences of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and the USA. He is also a member of many editorial boards of international journals and has received several natational and international scientific awards. His research includes topics like flat-slab subduction, collision of aseismic and seismic ridges in the Andes, as well as continental growth of South America. His major publications are related to the Andes.

Sreenivasan is professor of physics, mathematical sciences and engineering at New York U. and pres. and dean of its Polytechnic School. He taught at Yale for 22 years where he was the Harold W. Cheel prof.; dist. u. prof. and dir., Inst. of Physical Science and Tech., U. Maryland; and Abdus Salam professor and dir. of the Intl. Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste. He is a member of the US Natl. Acad. of Sci.; US Natl. Acad. of Eng.; Accademia dei Lincei; American Acad. of Arts and Sci.; Indian Acad. of Sciences; Indian Natl. Science Acad.; Indian National Acad. of Eng.; and African Acad. of Sciences. His honours include the Guggenheim Fellowship; Otto Laporte Award and Dwight, American Physical Society; Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Inst. of Science; Intl. Panetti-Ferrari Prize and Gold Medal, Torino Acad. of Sciences; and Natl. Order of Scientific Merit, Brazil.

Tang is emeritus professor in the department of optical engineering at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China; former chairman, Optical Coatings Speciality Association of China; and member of the dditorial board of Acta Optica Sinica and Acta Photonica Sinica. His research has resulted in significant contributions to computer aided design of optical multilayer systems, specifically in applied optics. His awards include: Award of Science and Technology Progress, First Rank; Chinese National Outstanding Expert in Science and Technology; Chinese National Award in Natural Science, Fourth Rank, State Science and Technology Committee; and the Chinese National Invention Prize, Fourth Rank. He was former vice president of the Zhejiang Provincial Association of Science and Technology and former Vice President of the Zhenjiang University.

Cetto Kramis is a Research Professor at the Institute of Physics, a lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences, and the Director of the Museum of Light, at the National University of Mexico (UNAM). Cetto Kramis has contributed to the development of stochastic quantum mechanics and stochastic electrodynamics. She served as Deputy Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 2003 to 2010 and is founding President of Latindex. Her awards include: Golden Award, International League of Humanists; Prize for the Development of Physics and Prize for Research in Physics, Mexican Physics Society; Award Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, UNAM; Mexico's Woman of the Year, 2003; Premio Juchiman de Plata, Mexico, and hon. doctorates from Tajik State National University and UNAPEC, Dominican Republic. She is a member of: Academia Mexicana de Ciencias; American Physical Society; Académie Royale des Sciences d'Outre Mer; OWSD; and World Future Council.

Chandrasekaran is a INSA Senior Scientist at the Department of Organic Chemistry , Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India. He is also a Honorary Professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore. He was previously lecturer, assistant professor and professor of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India from 1978-89. He is a synthetic organic chemist who is internationally recognized for his contributions to methodology development. His work has included the study of chemistry of Mo-S systems, organic-inorganic hybrid materials as catalysts for asymmetric synthesis, synthesis of peptides and synthesis of thiosugars as glycosidase inhibitors. He has been awarded the SS Bhatnagar Prize, CSIR, New Delhi and JC Bose National Fellowship of DST. He is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy.

Chen (PhD, 1989, Saint-Louis Hospital, U. of Paris VII) is Vice Chairman, Standing Committee, Natl. People's Congress, China; hon. director, Shanghai Inst. of Hematology, Rui-Jin Hospital, and director, Shanghai Ctr. for Systems Biomedicine, SJTU. His honours include: HLHL Award for Sci. and Technol.; Prix de l'Oise, La Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer; Qiu-Shi Award for Outstanding Young Scientist; Prix Inserm Etranger; Officier, Ordre de la Légion d’honneur, France; 7th Annual Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research, Natl. Foundn. for Cancer Research, USA. He is a member of the Chin. Acad. of Scs.; for. assoc., Natl. Acad. of Sciences, US Inst. of Medicine, French Acad. of Sciences and Academia Europaea; ext. scientific member, Max-Planck Soc., Germany; and hon. fellow, UK Acad. of Med. Sciences.

After doctoral (Brookhaven Lab.) and postdoctl. work (Carnegie-Mellon), he joined the Materials Science Lab., IGCAR, Kalpakkam (1976-81), served as reader, U. of Hyderabad (1981-86); prof. and dean, Phys. Scs. JNU (1986-99); dir., SN Bose Ctr., Kolkata (1999-2005), Found. Dir., IISER, Kolkata (2006-11) and Vice-Chancellor, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan (2011-16). Honours include: INSA Young Scientist Medal; Snr. assoc. ICTP; Humboldt fellowship; Ramanna prize; Raman award, Science Congress; Saha Medal, Natl. Acad., Allahabad; Raman Prize, INSA, JC Bose Fellowship. He is fellow of all Ind. natl. sci academies. Four notable research monographs are 'Relaxation Phenomena in Condensed Matter Physics' (1987), 'Dissipative Phenomena in Condensed Matter', with S. Puri (2004), 'A Paradigm Called Magnetism' (2008) and 'Diffusion - Formalism and Applications' (2013).

​​National Science Chair, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi; Invited Professor, IIT Delhi; Distinguished Professor, Sharda University, Greater Noida; ​Robert Koch Fellow (Berlin); Formerly: Vice-Chancellor, Univ of Hyderabad; Hon. Prof., JNCASR, Bangalore; first Director, CDFD, Hyderabad. Hasnain received PhD from JNU (1980), DSc (h.c.Multiple), DMedSc (h.c.); postdoc. training in Canada/USA, and was Staff Scientist, National Inst. of Immunology, New Delhi. Awards include: Germany's Das​Verdienstkreuz, 1. Klasse Award (2014) from German President; Humboldt Res. Prize, Germany; SS Bhatnagar Prize; Ranbaxy Res. Award; GD Birla Award; JC Bose Natl. Fellow, ​B.R. Ambedkar Award of the ICMR, Padma Shri (Civilian Award). Frmr Member, Sci. Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India (2004-2014); Frmr President, All India Cell Biology Soc.; Elected Fellow of German National Acad. of Sciences, Leopoldina; American Acad. of Microbiology, USA; National Science Academies of India (INSA, IASc, NASI, etc.). He is Editor/Member editorial ​boards of natl./intl. journals and Biotech Advisory Council of various states and has authored +350 publications/patents.

Jairajpuri is retired professor of zoology and Indian Natl. Science Acad. (INSA) senior scientist, Aligarh Muslim U., India. His work in the taxonomy and systematics of free-living and plant parasitic nematode is acknowledged internationally and his books on the Dorylaimida and Mononchida etc., are valuable tools for the identification of these difficult groups of free living, plant parasitic and predaceous nematodes. His awards include: Gold Medal, Zoological Soc. of India, 1978 and 1998; Janaki Ammal Natl. Award on Taxonomy, Min. Env. For., India, 1999; Har Swarup Memorial Award, Jawaharlal Nehru Vis. Fellowship, INSA; Lifetime Achievement Award, Ind. Soc. Parasit., 2007. He is fellow of: Natl. Acad. of Sciences, India, Allahabad, 1990; INSA, New Delhi, 1992; Indian Acad. of Sciences, Bangalore, 1993; Natl. Acad. of Agric. Sciences, New Delhi, 1993; and hon. fellow, Nem Soc India, 2006.

Jha (PhD 1965, Stanford U.) is Honorary Professor at DAE-UM Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, U. of Mumbai. He completed postdoctoral work at Harvard and the IBM Research Centre in Yorktown heights, NY, and then returned to the Faculty of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). He retired in 2002 as distinguished professor of physics and as its director, a position which he had held since 1997. He was honorary professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai (2003-08), and a distinguished guest professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (2002-12). His honours include: SS Bhatanagar Award; SN Bose INSA Medal for Theoretical Sciences; CV Raman Birth Centenary Medal; and the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary INSA Lecturership. He is a fellow of all major science academies in India as well as the American Physical Society.

Lin is research professor in mathematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and dean of the Science Faculty at Beijing University of Aero/Astronautics. He was previously assistant professor from 1956-59, lecturer from 1960-78 and associate professor from 1979-82 at CAS. He is a prominent figure in numerical analysis in China. He is well-known for his theory of extrapolation of finite and boundary element solutions of partial differential equations. His awards include: First Place Award of Natural Science Prize, CAS; expert at national level with Outstanding Contributions; the Science and Technology Progress Award of the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation; and the B. Bolzano Gold Medal for Merits in the field of mathematical sciences. His membership includes: CAS; standing committee, CAS, the Chinese Mathematical Society and the SIAM Fellow.

Viana is professor of mathematics at IMPA, Rio de Janeiro, where he has been a researcher since his doctorate in 1990. He has written over eighty research papers and books, covering several topics of dynamical systems and ergodic theory, and supervised thirty six doctoral students. He was plenary speaker, International Congress of Mathematicians, Berlin, 1998; invited speaker, ICM, Zurich, 1994; plenary speaker, International Congress of Mathematical Physics, Paris, 1994; plenary speaker, Latin American Congress of Mathematicians, Córdoba, 2012. He was awarded the TWAS Award in Mathematics; Latin American Mathematical Union Award; Grand Croix of Scientific Merit, President of Brazil; Ramanujan Prize, ICTP/IMU; Grand Prix Scientifique Louis D. Institut de France. He is member of the Brazilian, Portuguese and Chilean Academies of Sciences, and was the Scientific Coordinator of the Latin American Mathematical Union (UMALCA), the president of the Brazilian Mathematical Society and a vice-president of the International Mathematical Union (IMU). He is the director of IMPA and the head organizer of the International Congress of Mathematicians ICM 2018.

Bayoumi was educated in Khartoum and the UK: medical degree (MB BS) 1967, PhD (biochemistry) 1973, MRC Path (clinical biochemistry) 1975 and FRC Path 1995. He is professor of Basic Medical Sci. at Mohamed Bin Rashid U. of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai UAE. He was previously Professor of Biochemistry in the College of Medicine at Sultan Qaboos U. in Muscat, Oman (1998-2014). He was also previously assistant, associate and full professor at the U. of Khartoum, Sudan from 1977-91, and professor of biochemistry at United Arab Emirates U. from 1991-97. He has made important contributions to human genetics research in the Sudan, the study of genetic diseases, and in the genetic mapping of Joubert Syndrome and multiple epiphyseal dysplasia. His membership includes the Royal College of Pathologists and the Association of American Clinical Biochemistry.

Castellanos Serra obtained her Doctorate in Chemistry in 1978 from U. of Paris XI (France), and in 2008 her 'Habilitation'. She is one of the founders of Cuban Biotechnology, first at the Center for Biological Research, and next at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana, as group leader in Protein Chemistry and Proteomics, Div. of Phys. Chem. and Snr Prof., Fac. of Chem. Engg. and the Fac. of Chem. at the U. of Havana. Her main contributions are in the field of development of new methods in Protein Chemistry and Proteomics. She also trains and advises young scientists in the craft of scientific publishing. Her honours include: Cuban Natl Prize in Chemistry; Natl Award in Sciences Carlos J. Finlay; Natl Forum on Sci. and Techn. Award; and Sophia Kowalewskaya Award (USA). She has been incorporated into the Cuban Directory of Relevant Professors of XXth Century.

Cazzulo is professor of protein biochemistry at the Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnologicas, Universidad Nacional de General San Martin, and Investigador Superior, National Research Council, Argentina, since 1997. His previous positions include: Head of the Laboratory of Biochemistry of Parasites at the Fundacion Instituto Leloir, Buenos Aires (1986 – 1997), Head of the Research Department, Instituto Nacional de Parasitologia Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben, Argentinian Health Ministry, Buenos Aires (1980 – 1985), and Professor of Biochemistry, Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmaceuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario (1970 – 1980). He has directed or co-directed 28 Ph.D. Thesis. His work has focused on the metabolism of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causing agent of Chagas' Disease. His honours include: Doctor Honoris Causa (Medicine), University of Uppsala, Sweden; Medal of the Rector, Universidad de Chile, Santiago; and Dr. A.O.M. Stoppani Prize in Biochemical Parasitology, Argentinian National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences. He is a member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences, since 1987, and the Argentinian National Academy of Sciences, since 2017.

Chaimovich is an Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, U. São Paulo (IQUSP), Brazil; Adjunct Coordinator for Special Programs, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). Former positions: Director, IQUSP; Research Provost, USP; President Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Vice-President of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, President of the Brazilian Science and Technology Council, CNPq; Vice-President for External Affairs, ICSU; Co-Chair, InterAmerican Network of Academies of Science. His research focuses on fundamental and applied aspects of surfactant aggregates in Chemistry and Biochemistry, including experimental and theoretical analysis of specific ion effects on the properties of surfactant aggregates. Prizes and Distinctions: Brazilian Order for Scientific Merit; TWAS Medal; Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, France; Scopus Prize, Elsevier. He is a member of the Academies of Science of Brazil, Chile, Latin America, and Venezuela and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (USA). Contributes regularly to publications in national and international Science Policy.

Chen is Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore. He was Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor (2006-12), Distinguished Professor (2013-15), and served as Director, Institute for Mathematical Sciences (2000-12). He was President, Bernoulli Soc. for Mathematical Statistics and Probability (1997-99), President, Inst. of Mathematical Statistics (2004-05), and Vice-President, International Statistical Institute (2009-11). He has done fundamental work on Poisson approximation, now known as the Chen-Stein (or Stein-Chen) method. His research in discrete probability has broad applications ranging from molecular biology to probabilistic number theory. He is an elected fellow, Singapore Natl. Acad. of Science, and Inst. of Mathematical Statistics; elected member, International Statistical Institute. He has served as Associate Editor of the journals Bernoulli and Statistica Sinica.