Stashenko is the director of the National Research Center for the Agroindustrialization of Tropical Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, CENIVAM. She has directed the research work of more than 300 new professionals in Chemistry, at undergraduate and graduate levels, which have been the basis for her publication of over 250 scientific articles. She has coauthored 11 patents. Research topics include the application of chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques to the study of secondary metabolites from aromatic plants, to the determination of pesticide residues in various materials, and to petrochemistry and organic geochemistry. Stashenko founded the National School on Chromatography where she has taught over 150 specialized courses on separation sciences to practicing professionals from research labs and industry.

Srinivas (Ph.D., 1982, University of Chicago) is the College of Arts and Sciences Professor at the University at Buffalo - SUNY. Earlier, he was a Distinguished Professor in the School of Mathematics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, from where he retired in 2023. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union for two terms, and served as Chairman of the National Board for Higher Mathematics, India for eight years. His awards and recognitions include the S.S. Bhatnagar Prize, India, the TWAS Mathematics Prize, a Humboldt Research Award, and an Einstein Visiting Fellowship from Berlin. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, the National Academy of Sciences, India, and of the American Mathematical Society.

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.

Souza Filho was born in 1975, in Jucás, Brazil, and received his doctorate in physics from the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil, in 2001. In 2000, he joined the group of Prof. Mildred Dresselhaus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a PhD visiting student, where he worked on single carbon nanotube resonance Raman spectroscopy. He has authored and co-authored about 270 papers in refereed international journals including review articles, book chapters, and books. He is currently a full professor of physics at the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. He was one of the recipients of the 2009 Sômiya Prize awarded by the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS) and elected fellow of the Brazilian Academy of Science in 2018. His main research interests are the electronic and optical properties of nanomaterials with emphasis on carbon nanostructures.

Sorooshian is dist. prof. and dir., Departments of Civil and Env. Eng. and Earth System Science, U. of California Irvine, USA. He is renowned for contributions to hydrometeorology and development/application of remote sensing for operational hydrology and water resources management. He is a member of the US Natl. Acad. of Eng. (NAE) and Intl. Acad. of Astronautics (IAA) and fellow of the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); American Geophysical Union (AGU); American Meteorological Soc. (AMS); and Int. Water Resources Assoc. (IWRA). He serves on advisory committees, including NASA, NOAA, WMO and UNESCO. Recent honours include: Ven Te Chow Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (2017); Robert E Horton Medalist, American Geophysical Union (AGU) (2013); American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Life Member Award (2013); Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Intl. Prize for Water Resources Management and Protection (2010); Honorary professorship, Beijing Normal University (2010); Walter Orr Roberts Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Sciences Award (AMS) (2009); UNESCO Great Manmade River Water Prize (2007); and NASA Dist. Public Service Medal (2005).

Sopory is currently Senior Emeritus Scientist at ICGEB.. Former vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Until 2011, he was the group leader of plant molecular biology and Director ( Interim) at ICGEB, New Delhi. He discovered the involvement of the glyoxalase system in plant cell stress response, by demonstrating that genetic engineering of the glyoxalase pathway leads to enhanced salinity tolerance; and that methylglyoxal levels in plants under stress are dependent on the enzyme glyoxalase I and glutathione. He also showed that methylglyoxal can act as stress signal in plants. He is a fellow of all science academies of India, and the winner of the Bhatnagar, Maheshwari and Saligram Sinha Awards of India. He was given the Padamshri, one of the highest civilian awards, by the President of India.

Sood is the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India (PSA to GoI) since April 2022. He is also the Chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). Sood is also a Distinguished Year of Science Professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore. He had also served as a Member of Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) to the Prime Minister of India from 2009-14. Sood has a doctorate in Physics from IISc Bangalore. His research interests include the physics of nanosystems and soft matter. He has published more than 450 papers in peer-reviewed journals and holds several patents. His work has been recognised by many awards, including the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India; President of the Indian National Science Academy (2017–19); President of the Indian Academy of Sciences (2010–12); and Secretary-General, TWAS, (2013–18). He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, UK (FRS) in 2015. He has received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the G.D.Birla Award for Scientific Research, TWAS Prize in Physics and Homi Bhabha Medal of Indian National Science Academy.

Songsivilai is chairman of Thailand's National Commission on Science, Research and Innovation. He has held several senior national leadership positions, including permanent secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation; secretary-general of the National Research Council of Thailand; and executive director of the National Nanotechnology Center. He was the founding president of the Thailand Nanotechnology Association, president of the Asia Nano Forum, and chairman of the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation. He received his MD (first-class honours, Gold Medal) from Mahidol University, and his PhD in molecular biology from the University of Cambridge. He is an Anandamahidol Foundation Scholar, a distinction awarded by His Majesty the King of Thailand. Following training and research appointments in the United Kingdom and the United States, he joined Mahidol University, where he became a professor. His research focuses on immunology, molecular biology, and the genomics of tropical infectious diseases. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Thailand and the recipient of several distinguished national and international scientific awards.

Sokona (PhD, 1981, Ecole nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, France) with over decades of experience addressing energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa, has been at the heart of numerous national and continental initiatives. He is currently leading the African Institute for Sustainable Energy and System Analysis (AISESA). He was a Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sixth assessment report after serving as Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III for the fifth assessment following being a Lead Author since 1990. In 2007 he received a personal certificate from the Nobel Committee marking his ‘significant contribution’ to the work of the IPCC, which received a joint award of the Nobel Peace Prize that year. 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. For example, among others he is member of The World Academy of Sciences, the African Academy of Sciences, the Int

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.

Soares is a senior researcher at the Gonçalo Moniz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, and a full professor at Senai Cimatec in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. She earned her Bachelor of Science in genetics and her PhD in immunology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, completing a visiting fellowship at Harvard University. She is a senior research Fellow of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, a member of the Academy of Sciences of Bahia, and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses on translational medicine, with the goal of developing new diagnostic tools, therapeutic drugs, and advanced therapeutic products. Her work primarily targets neglected and unmet medical needs, including Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and spinal cord injury. A pioneer in the field of ATMPs in Brazil, Soares was an expert advisor with the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency and the Ministry of Health. In her career, she has led collaborative research with national and international institutions, mentoring a new generation of researchers and health professionals, making a significant contribution to scientific capacity-building in Brazil.

Sivaram is an Emeritus Professor and INSA Emeritus Scientist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India. His previous positions include CSIR Bhatnagar Fellow (2010-15), J.C.Bose National Fellow(2005-14), and Director, CSIR-NCL, Pune, (2002-10). He has led research in polymer chemistry in the area of controlled synthesis of polymers, transition metal catalyzed polymerization of olefins, bio-degradable polymers, and new chemistry/catalysts for high-performance polymers. He has to his credit over 250 papers and 100 issued and applied patents. Awards: Padma Shri; Prof. Santappa Silver Jubilee Award; KG Naik Gold Medal, MS Univ. of Baroda; FICCI Award; Prof. SR Palit Memorial Award; Millennium Medal, Ind Sci Congress Assoc; Goyal Prize in App Sci; Gold Medal of Chem Res Soc of India for lifetime achievement in chemistry; International Award in Polymer Science, awarded by the Japan Promotion of Advancement of Science and DSc (h.c), Purdue Univ., USA. He is a fellow of the Indian Acad. of Sciences, Natl. Acad. of Sciences, Indian Natl. Science Acad., Indian Natl. Acad. of Eng., Roy. Soc. Chem., UK and IUPAC.

Sinha was educated at Presidency College, Kolkata, and the U. of Delhi. He obtained his PhD at the U. of Rochester. He is a SERB-Distinguished Fellow and Honorary Professor, JNCASR; Distinguished Associate, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His previous positions include: Bhatnagar fellow,CSIR; distinguished scientist and Director, Indian Statistical Institute; visiting professorships at the Universities of Texas at Austin, Tennessee at Knoxville, Geneva, Switzerland, and RIMS, Kyoto. His honours include: CV Raman Medal; Ulam chair professor, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder; SS Bhatnagar Prize; Ganesh Prasad Memorial Award, Indian Mathematical Society; and PC Mahalanobis Medal, Indian Science Congress. He is a fellow of the Indian Natl. Science Academy and Indian Academy of Sciences, and life member of the Indian Mathematical Society and Intl. Assoc. of Mathematical Physicists.

Singhvi (PhD Physics, IIT, Kanpur). He served as vice-president, International. Quaternary Union (INQUA) and as Vice President, Indian National Science Academy. He holds DST-SERB- Year of Science Chair Professorship at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, India. He was Av. Humboldt Fellow at the MPI für Kernphysik and Heidelberg U., Germany; Leverhulme Prof., Sheffield U., UK; DAAD Prof., Freiberg, Germany; and Ford Foundation Fellow, Oxford, UK and St. Louis, USA. His honours include: Krishnan and Decennial Medals, Ind. Geophys. Union; Natl. Mineral Award, India; Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Sci. (2004), Geol. Soc. of America; and K. Naha Medal, Ind. Nat. Sci. Acad; Goyal Prize, Kurukshetra U. and B. Sahni Centenary Medal, Indian Science Congress. A fellow of all Indian science academies and Hon. Lifetime Fellow of the Geol. Society London, he served on Sci. Prog. Comm. of UN's IYPE programme. He served as on the editorial boards of several international journals.

Singhal earned her PhD in 1990 from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India, where she is now a professor. She received fellowships from the Indian National Science Academy, Indian National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences India, International Bioprocessing Association, and Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India). She was a member of scientific panels and working groups, FSSAI, Government of India, and a member of the subject expert committee of national bodies of the Government of India, including BIRAC, DST, UGC, DBT, and TDB. She is a project evaluator for the European Science Foundation, was an associate editor with Carbohydrate Polymers, and is an associate editor with Sustainable Food Technology. She was a chairperson, Research Council, CSIR-CFTRI, and is a former member of the Research Council, CSIR-NIIST. She is a subject expert with the National Board of Accreditation and works in interdisciplinary areas encompassing chemical sciences, in particular, food chemistry, biological sciences, and engineering sciences, where she works with separation techniques, using supercritical carbon dioxide and chromatography.

Singh earned his PhD in 1986, from Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, India. He is a distinguished researcher, educator, and Fellow of leading scientific academies, including the American Society of Horticultural Science, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Indian Academy of Horticultural Science. With over three decades of achievements, he has advanced horticultural research, innovation, and capacity building, particularly in developing countries. His work has earned numerous national and international honours, including recognition from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, UNESCO, and the International Society of Horticultural Science. Also, he has been named Western Australian Innovator of 2017. His research has enhanced crop productivity, reduced postharvest losses, and contributed to global food security. Singh has worked across institutions in Australia, the UK, Italy, and India, publishing 468 papers, developing industry-relevant technologies, and inventing two ethylene antagonists. A strong advocate for global collaboration, he has led major initiatives to strengthen scientific capacity worldwide. His work has received 11,426 citations.

Vinod Singh is a Professor of Chemistry at IIT Kanpur. His research work falls in the area of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, more specifically, asymmetric synthesis. He has developed several new chiral ligands/catalysts for enantioselective reactions. Singh’s work has been recognized with several awards and honors such as Padma Shri (2014), Distinguished Alumnus Award by BHU (2012), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prize (2004), and Swarnajayanti Fellowship Award (1998), among others. He is Fellow of all the science academies of the country. He is an Editor of an Elsevier journal - Tetrahedron Lett. He is a Member, Editorial Advisory Board of Org. Lett. and J. Org. Chem. As a Founding Director of IISER Bhopal for more than 10 years (2008-2018), Professor Singh set up the whole campus in 200 acres land from scratch. He has served as the Mentor Director of IISER Berhampur, Director of SPA Bhopal (additional charge) and the Chairman of BoG, NITTTR Bhopal. He also held the additional charge of Directorship of MANIT Bhopal and the Mentor Director of IIIT Bhopal. He had been a Member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (SAC to PM) during 2009-2014.

Singh (PhD, 1975, Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore) is SERB-Distinguished Fellow, Dept. of Biophysics, All India Inst. of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. His honours include: Prof. DM Bose Memorial Lecture Award, Bose Inst. (2013); Bhramara’s YT Thathachari Award in Life Sciences (2012); Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Lecture Award, INSA (2011); Goyal Prize in Life Sciences (2007); Prof. GN Ramachandran CSIR Gold Medal for Excellence in Biol. Sciences and Technology (2006); Prof. GN Ramachandran 60th Birthday Commemoration INSA Medal (2006); Sir JC Bose Memorial Award, Indian Science Congress (2006); KK Foundation Award for Sci. and Tech. (2001). He is a fellow of: Indian Natl. Science Acad. (INSA); Indian Acad. of Sciences; Natl. Acad. of Sciences, India; Biotec Research Soc. of India. He was Vice-President, INSA (2007-2009) and Editor-in-Chief, Proceedings of INSA (2011-13).

Singh is a food scientist with more than 38 years of experience in teaching, research, and academic leadership. He holds a BSc in agriculture, an MSc, and a PhD in food technology from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and currently serves as vice-chancellor of Graphic Era (deemed to be University). His expertise lies in cereal, pulse, and plant-based food chemistry, with a focus on starch structure–function relationships, grain processing, and advanced analytical techniques. He is a Fellow of several prestigious academies and the recipient of numerous honors, including the J.C. Bose National Fellowship and the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award. With more than 440 publications, 39,000 citations, and an h-index of 102, he has supervised more than 35 PhD students and contributed extensively to global food science research and academic publishing.

Singh is professor emeritus, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, and INSA senior scientist at Banaras Hindu University. After obtaining his PhD at Banaras Hindu University in 1967 and completing postdoctoral work at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, he has worked in various capacities at Kurukshetra University, Kumaun University, Colorado State University and Banaras Hindu University. His honours include: SS Bhatnagar award; Swami Pranavanand Saraswati award; Pitamber Pant Fellowship; Dr. Birbal Sahni Gold Medal; and Professor SB Saksena Memorial Medal. He is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, India, and the International Society for Tropical Ecology. He is a member of the Council, International Association for Vegetation Science, Sweden.

Anjana Singh has been a professor in the Central Department of Microbiology at Tribhuvan University, since 1994. She earned her PhD at the School of Life Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, in 2004, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Virginia (USA), in 2008–2009. She has been an academician of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) since 2010 and has been involved in various NAST committees related to science diplomacy and the promotion of science and technology. She sits in the editorial board of the Nepal Journal of Science and Technology and is the coordinator of the Women Scientists Forum Nepal. She is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Institute of Science and Technology. She has served as an executive board member of the Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia–women in science and engineering committee. She is an executive member of the board of studies at South Asian University, a member of a cluster committee of the University Grants Commission Nepal, and a member of a task force established for policy development.

Dr Peter Singer has dedicated his career to building innovative institutions with high social impact. Since 2017, he has been Special Advisor to the Director General, supporting Dr Tedros to transform WHO into an Organization focused on measurable impact in countries. Dr Singer co-chaired the transition team; was the architect of WHO’s strategy and its “triple billion” target; supports strategy implementation; and during the pandemic was a strong advocate for vaccine equity. From 2008-2018 Singer was Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada, and from 1996-2006 he was Sun Life Financial Chair and Director of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. He is Professor of Medicine at University of Toronto In 2011, Dr Singer was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, recognized for his contributions to health research and bioethics and for his dedication to improving the health of people in developing countries, and in 2007 he received the Michael Smith Prize as Canada's Health Researcher of the Year. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, U.S. National Academy of Medicine, and TWAS.

Simis is an emeritus full professor at the Federal U. of Pernambuco, Brazil. He is a First Class research grant recipient from the Brazilian Research Council. He earned his PhD from Queen's U., Canada. In Brazil, he was a professor at IMPA in Rio de Janeiro until 1980. He was president of the Brazilian Mathematical Society and has been a member, on several occasions, of international commissions of the IMU and TWAS. He has been director of 3 workshops in his field at the ICTP. He is a recipient of the Natl. Medal Grã-Cruz for Scientific Merit, Min. of Science and Technology, and was a JS Guggenheim Fellow. He has been awarded other fellowships from the Max-Planck-Institut, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica. He is a member of the Brazilian Acad. of Sciences and serves on several committees in Brazil. His mathematical work concerns the interlacing of commutative algebra and algebraic geometry.

Silva-Filho earned his PhD in 1994 from the University of Louvain, Belgium. He is a professor of genetics at the Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture, University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, and a former director of international relations and graduate programs at the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), the Brazilian federal agency responsible for supporting and evaluating graduate education. He also served as dean of graduate studies at USP, and currently serves as scientific director of the São Paulo Research Foundation. His honors include the National Order of Scientific Merit, Commander Class. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the São Paulo Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. As a leading scientist in plant genetics, particularly in plant–multitrophic interactions, he has made groundbreaking contributions to elucidating the complex relationships among plants, herbivorous insects, and fungal pathogens from a holistic perspective. His pioneering work has demonstrated how fungal phytopathogens manipulate plants, their primary insect pests, and their microbiomes to enhance their transmission.

Silva is prof. of biochemistry at the Federal Univ. of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), dir. of the Jiri Jonas Natl. Center of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and scientific dir. of the Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. His research interest revolves around the understanding of biological recognition processes, especially how proteins correctly fold, misfold into species involved in neurodegenerative diseases, and form supramolecular complexes, such as virus particles. His work has opened new vistas for the use of pressure perturbations in the field of protein folding, structure and dynamics. He was nominated fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, member of the Brazilian Acad. of Sciences. His honours include: Brazilian Order of Scientific Merit (Great-Cross), TWAS Prize in Biology and the FCW Prize in General Science from Fundação Conrado Wessel.

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.

Sial is full professor (retired, 2012; Emeritus Professor, 2016) in the Department of Geology, Federal U. of Pernambuco, Brazil (UFPE). He obtained his PhD from UC Davis (1974) and did postdoctoral work at the U. of Texas at Austin (1977-78), U. of Georgia at Athens (entire 1983, entire 1988) and U. of Wisconsin (2001). He also trained in Portugal, Canada, Japan and Scotland. He founded a Laboratory for Stable Isotope Studies at UFPE, only one in South America with facilities to analyze O isotopes from silicates, and pioneered the use of isotope stratigraphy in S. America. He has received several honours including: Silver Hammer and José Bonifacio Golden Medals (Brazilian Geological Society); Centennial Medal, Engineering School, UFPE; National Order of Scientific Merit commendator and Grao Cruz classes (by President of Brazil decree); special foreign member, Society of Resource Geology, Japan; and foreign member, Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Lisbon Academy of Sciences, Portugal.

Shyamasundar is senior professor and JC Bose Natl. Fellow, Faculty of Technology and Computer Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India. He obtained his BE in electrical engineering at Mysore U. in 1970, ME in electrical engineering (1972) and PhD in computer science (1975) at the Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore. He worked under legendary Prof. E.W. Dijkstra at Eindohoven and has held various postions in PennState, UCSD, UIUC, SUNY Alabany, INRIA, JAIST, Max Planck Institute, IEEE Standards etc. He is the founding Dean of Technology and Computer Science at TIFR, and founding president of the India Association for Research in Computer Science. He is a fellow of IEEE USA, fellow Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) USA, the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, Indian National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Shukla is Univ. Prof. and founding Dir. of Climate Dynamics, PhD., found chair AOES dept., George Mason Univ. Obtained his BSc, MSc and PhD from BHU, India, and DSc from MIT. Previously, he was: res. assoc., Princeton; vis. assoc. prof., MIT; sr. scientist, GSFC, NASA; prof., Univ. of Maryland; chairman, TOGA Panel, NAS, USA; chairman, Int. Advisory Panel for Weather and Climate, India; Founding dir., Ctr. for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies. Honors and awards include: Honorary member, AMS; Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change, Padma Shri (India, 2012), IMO Prize, AGU Fellow, Rossby Medal, AMS; Walker Gold Medal, IMS; Exceptional Sci. Achiev. Medal, NASA. His membership includes: VA Governor's Commission on Climate; Joint Scientific Comm. and Chair of Modeling Panel, Climate Variability, WCRP; Fellow of IMS and AMS. Contributions include "Predictability in the Midst of Chaos." He is Founder of Gandhi College for the education of rural women in the village of his birth in India.

Arun Shukla studied biotechnology at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and earned a PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt, Germany, under the supervision of 1988 Nobel Laureate Michel Hartmut. Then, he moved to Duke University (North Carolina, USA) to carry out his postdoctoral research with 2012 Nobel Laureate Robert Lefkowitz, in close collaboration with Brian Kobilka, a 2012 Nobel Laureate, at Stanford University. Shukla later moved to Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur to establish a cutting-edge research program focused on the structure and function of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest class of cell-surface receptors in the human genome and important therapeutic targets. The long-term goal of his research is to understand the fundamental principles of GPCR activation, signaling, and regulation, to design novel therapeutics with less side effects for various human disorders. He has pioneered research in membrane protein structural biology in India, and his sustained advocacy at multiple levels has been instrumental in establishing and strengthening the infrastructure and research focus in this field in the country.

Zabta K. Shinwari is a distinguished Pakistani scientist, academic leader and internationally recognised scholar whose contributions span molecular systematics, agricultural biotech, medicinal plant ecology, bioethics, biosafety and sustainable development. He holds a D.Sc. from Kyoto University, Japan, and has served in senior academic and scientific leadership positions, including Vice Chancellor of Kohat University of Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology Bannu, Qarshi University Lahore, and Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Tech. He is Distinguished National Professor and Professor Emeritus at Quaid-i-Azam University and Vice President of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences. A Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Islamic World Academy of Sciences and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), he has received international distinctions, including Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, UNESCO Avicenna Gold Medal for ethics in Science. HEC Best University Teacher Award and the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His sustained contributions to responsible science, biodiversity conservation biotechnology, biosecurity