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.

Crombet (PhD,2004) is a Medical Doctor and Immunology Specialist (1997). Since 2009 she has been Medical Director of the Center of Molecular Immunology of Havana. She is Member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences; Senior Faculty of the Superior Institute of Medical Sciences of Havana; Member of the Board of Directors of Innovative Immunotherapy Alliance, a joint venture between US and Cuba; Member of the Cuban and Latin-American Societies of Immunology; Member of the Cuban and American Societies of Oncology. She has published more than 100 papers and participated in more than 200 international congresses as speaker. Crombet has received several times the annual National Award of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, the Technological Innovation Award of the Cuban Ministry of Science, and the TWAS Prize for Young Scientists in Developing Countries (2007). Crombet's main area of expertise is cancer immunotherapy and her work has contributed to the registration in Cuba and abroad of two cancer vaccines and two monoclonal antibodies for several epithelial tumors, autoimmune diseases and COVID-19. She is member of the international panel of experts on COVID-19 of the InterAcademy Partnership.

Guillen is currently Biomedical Research Director at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in Havana. He received his Bachelor in Science degree in Chemistry and his Master in Chemistry in 1986 in Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University, and his PhD degree in Biological Sciences in 1995 from Havana University. He joined the CIGB in 1986. For more than 25 years, he was supervisor of several projects related to prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine developments on hepatitis, dengue, meningitis, pertussis, cancer and COVID as well as drug development against infectious diseases, cancer, cardio protection, neuro-protection and wound healing. Guillen is a Senior Researcher at CIGB, Full Professor at the Havana University and Latino American School of Medicine, Distinguished Professor-at-Large at the University of Science and Technology of China and has been a Member of the Cuban Academy of Science since 2012. He is also member of several scientific societies, editorial boards and advisory committees. He has published 226 scientific papers and holds 56 patents. He has been honored with 52 National Awards for Scientific Results from the Cuban Academy of Sciences.

Pérez Rojas is senior researcher at the Institute of Cybernetics, Mathematics and Physics, Ministry of Science and Technology, Cuba; emeritus member of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba; and member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences. His national awards include the Rafael Maria Mendive and Carlos J. Finlay Medals. He was awarded in 2011 the National Prize in Physics from the Cuban Physical Society. His interests include quantum field theory and its applications to finite temperature problems in high energy physics and condensed matter. Among these, he has devoted special attention to quantum electrodynamics in matter and in vacuum in the presence of external fields, phase transitions in electroweak theory, relativistic quantum Hall effect, Bose-Einstein condensation in magnetic fields, and applications of physics to social sciences.

Verez Bencomo is a chemist dedicated to understand the molecular basis of protection from infectious disease and to use this knowledge for the development of vaccines. He led this development from bench to introduction into preventive medical practice for 5 different vaccines: The first was Quimi-Hib, a conjugate vaccine against Haemophilus influenza type b using for the first time a synthetic carbohydrate antigen (Science, 2004) and prequalified by the World Health Organization. Quimi-Vio, a conjugate vaccine including the most prevalent Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes actually in the last clinical steps before commercial introduction in Cuba. In the period 2020-2021 during the COVID19 pandemic, he also led the development of a series of 3 vaccines call SOBERANAS. SOBERANA 02 is the only conjugate vaccine developed. The safety record of this vaccine platform allowed a quick introduction in children in Cuba as early as September 2021 allowing Cuba to be the first country in the world mass vaccinating children against COVID-19. He is “Knight of the Legion of Honor”, (France, 2015) and “National Hero” (Cuba, 2021)

De los Reyes is Founding Director of MODEMAT - Research Center in Mathematical Modeling and Optimization and Full Professor of Mathematics at Escuela Politécnica Nacional de Ecuador. He obtained his PhD in 2003 at the University of Graz, Austria, and worked as postdoctoral researcher at the Technical University of Berlin (2005-2006). In 2009 he was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers to carry out research in Germany, and in 2010 he was awarded a J.T. Oden Faculty Fellowship at The University of Texas at Austin. He has held Visiting Professor positions at the Humboldt University of Berlin (2010), the University of Hamburg (2013) and the Weierstrass Institute of Berlin (2021). He is former Director of Research of Escuela Politécnica Nacional de Ecuador (2019-2021), former President of the Ecuadorian Mathematical Society (2012-2014), Fellow of the Ecuadorian Academy of Sciences (since 2015), and Fellow of TWAS (since 2016). Dr. De los Reyes has served as member of organizing committees of various academic events worldwide, and has promoted the creation and strengthening of scientific networks in Latin-America.

del Pino is emeritus professor of biological sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE). After obtaining her PhD at Emory University, del Pino returned to Ecuador in 1972 and has since worked at PUCE. Her honours include: an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (1984-85), a diploma from the World Wildlife Fund for the Education for Conservation in the Galapagos Islands (1986); the L'Oreal/UNESCO Award For Women in Science (2000); the Sheth Distinguished International Emory Alumni Award (2003); the TWAS Medal (2005); the Eugenio Espejo Prize in the Sciences, Govt. of Ecuador (2012), and the 2019 Prize of The Latin American Society for Developmental Biology (LASDB). She is hon. foreign member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences, hon. foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and founding member of the Ecuador Academy of Sciences.

Ron (PhD, 2007, University of Texas) professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito. Founding member and current secretary of the Ecuadorian Academy of Sciences. Young Affiliate of TWAS (2008–2013) and member of the Global Young Academy (2010–2013). He is curator of amphibians at the Museum of Zoology, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. His research focuses on two main venues: evolution and conservation. In his work on evolution he has contributed to the field of systematics and taxonomy of Neotropical amphibians. In the field of conservation, he has studied to global phenomenon of amphibian population declines. He is Director of the ARCA initiative, a large-scale study to inventory and characterize genetically the Ecuadorian biodiversity. He is editor in chief of FaunaWebEcuador, a web portal that publishes general information of Ecuadorian fauna.

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.

Aziz is a professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University—which he chaired from 2016–2021, and the head of MARC Bioscience Research Laboratories in Giza, Egypt. From 2021–2024, he has directed the Microbiology and Immunology Research Programme at the Children’s Cancer Hospital of Egypt. In 2005, he received his PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of Tennessee, Health Science Center in Memphis, and carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago, San Diego State University, and UCSD (2008–2013). He collaborates with the Argonne National Laboratory. His research spans microbiology and immunology, genomics of microbial pathogens and phages, and microbiomics. He is a pioneer of pharmacomicrobiomics, a discipline that studies drug-microbiome interactions. He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles, a book, nine book sections, and is maintaining two bioinformatics databases. His work has been nationally and internationally acknowledged through awards from TWAS, COMSTECH, and Shoman Awards. He is ranked among the 1% most productive authors in the SCOPUS database (based on c-score).

El-Beltagy served as Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. He is currently Chair, International Drylands Development Commission (IDDC); Professor, Arid Land Agricultural graduate studies & Research Institute (ALARI), Ain Shams University; Chair, Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt, Board Member of the Egyptian Academy for the Scientific Research & Technology; Chair, Food and Agriculture Research Council, Egyptian Academy of Science; Former President, governing board, CIHEAM; Chair, Global Forum for Agric. Research (GFAR); DG, ICARDA; The Golden Medal of CIHEAM & France Commander of the Order of Agric. in recognition of enhancing the Ag development in the Mediterranian ; Member of: Russian Acad. of Agric. Sciences, Moscow; Tajik Acad. of Agric. Sciences; Kyrgyz Agrarian Acad.; and Scientific Council, Azerbaijan Agric Acad. Awards include: Fellow of Univ. of Wales, UK; Al-Istiklal Medal, HM King Abdullah II bin Hussein of Jordan; Golden Medal Award, Armenia; hon. DSc, Univ. of Khartoum, Sudan; and member, Sultan Qaboos ‘first class’ order for Culture, sciences&Arts for enhancing Develop.of Ag in the Dry Areas.

Specializing in metabolomics, natural products chemistry, and plant biochemistry, Farag completed his PhD at Texas Tech University, USA, in 2003. In 2005, after spending time as a postdoctoral fellow at The Samuel Noble Foundation, USA, and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, USA, he became assistant professor in 2005 at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt. Since 2009, Farag has been working as a part time visiting professor at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, to participate in teaching plant metabolomics and chemomterics modelling for master students, and in 2009–2010 he held the Alexander von Humboldt fellowship in Germany. Farag now works full time as a professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC) where his research work focuses primarily around applying innovative biochemical technologies (metabolomics) to help answer complex biological questions in medicine, herbal drugs analysis and agriculture. For his highly cited publications of close to 5000 citations and an H index of 32, Farag was selected as a top researcher in the field of plant biology in Africa by the American society of plant biology, United States.

Magdy Madkour (PhD University of Wales 1977, UK) is Prof of biotechnology, Arid Lands Agricultural Research Inst., Ain Shams University, Egypt, and Editor in Chief, Journal of Agriculture and Food Security, BioMed Central. He was the Chairman, Executive Committee, Agriculture Research for Development Fund (ARDF), Min. of Agric and Land Reclamation, Egypt; Senior Advisor, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Deputy Director General,ICARDA. Madkour was Prof of Plant pathology, Alexandria University. He served on the Technical Advisory Committee of CGIAR, the Board of Trustees of ICARDA and IPGRI (Bioversity). In 1990 he established the Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI-Egypt). In 2007 he received Egypt’s Presidential Gold Medal for Science & Technology, three AOAD awards for scientific excellence; FAO World Food Day recognition; TWAS Arab Regional Prize. He holds three patents, authored 140 peer reviewed publications and contributed with chapters in 9 international books.

Obayya is an internationally recognized scientist who holds fellowships from several leading scientific societies, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Optical Society of America, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, American Physical Society, African Academy of Sciences, Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society, Higher Education Academy, Institution of Engineering and Technology, and the Institute of Physics. He joined Zewail City of Science and Technology (ZC) in 2012, where he served as vice-chairman and currently holds the position of director-general of research institutes. Prior to joining ZC, Obayya spent 15 years at leading universities in the United Kingdom, including serving as chair professor of photonics at the University of South Wales. His outstanding contributions have been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Continental Award for Scientific Excellence; Africa’s highest scientific honor (2021), the OPTICA Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Recognition Award (2023), and the distinguished title of UNESCO Chair-Holder for Sustainable Development in Africa (2019).

Salama was educated at Ain Shams and Cairo (Faculty of Sciences) Universities. He obtained his MSc (1959), PhD (1962) and DSc (1987). He is emeritus research professor (entomology), Natl. Res. Ctr. (NRC), Cairo. His previous positions include: Head, Dept. of Pests and Plant Protection, NRC, 1976-87; chairman, Agricultural Res. Div., NRC, 1978-80, 1988; vice-president, NRC, 1986-87; and president, NRC, 1988-92. His awards include: State Prize for Biological Sciences, Egypt; Order of Sciences and Arts, First Rank; State Prize for Agricultural Sciences, Egypt; Order of Sciences and Arts, First Rank; and African Academy of Sciences/Ciba Geigy Prize, Agricultural Biosciences; Recognition State Prize in Basic Sciences, 1992; Nile (Mubarak) Prize in Advanced Technological Sciences, 2006 and Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation 2017. His membership includes the Islamic, African,TWAS and Egyptian Academies of Sciences, and Executive Committee, IUBS, Paris.

Professor Tawfik is founding director of the Egyptian Center for Theoretical Physics (ECTP), founding director of the World Laboratory for Cosmology And Particle Physics (WLCAPP), and research director at "ICSC-World Laboratory" in Erice, Italy. Professor Tawfik is serving in several committees and panels for education, scientific research, and development. In 1999, He has earned Dr.rer.Nat at Philipps Universität Marburg, and in 2012 Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in “physics and mathematics” at Uzbekistan National University. Tawfik has accomplished successive academic posts at Marburg, Stuttgart, Trier, Bielefeld (Germany), Hiroshima (Japan), MTI, Nile, and Future universities (Egypt). He was elected as a Fellow of the E African Academy of Science (AAS) and the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT).

Limonta-Vidal is Regional Director of the Internatonal Science Council (ISC) Reg. Off. for Lat. Am. and the Caribbean. He was head of biotechnology and science adviser, Natl. Inst. of Haematology, Cuba and prof., Medical U. of Havana. He was the founder director general of both the Centre for Biological Research, Cuba (1982-86) and the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Cuba (1986-99) and founder of the Centres for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, provinces of Camaguey (1989) and Sancti Spiritus (1990). His honours include: two Dr. (h.c.), Universidad Central, Ecuador and Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico; 2 Medals Comendador Merito Cientifico, Brazil; 3 medals, Natl. Sciences Trade Union, Cuba; member, editorial board, 7 scientific journals; member, 13 natl. and intl. scientific and medical associations; and fellow, Caribbean Acad. of Sciences and Cuban Acad. of Sciences. Member of teh academy of Sciences of The Caribbean (since 2000) of the World Academy of Science (TWAS, since 1995). In the last 28th TWAS General Assambly Meeting in Trieste, Italy, Prof. Manuel Limonta was elected Vice President of TWAS for the period 2019 - 2031.

Dr Abraham Aseffa is a Senior Scientist (formerly Director) at the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia. He graduated in Medicine from Addis Ababa University (1984) and studied Microbiology at the University of Leipzig, Germany (Dr. med, 1990, summa cum laude). He taught Microbiology at Gondar College of Medical Sciences (Ethiopia) until 1998 when he joined the WHO Immunology and RT at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland for postdoctoral research. He moved to AHRI in Addis as senior scientist in 2001. Dr Aseffa has conducted several studies on infectious disease microbiology, immunology and epidemiology in collaboration with national and international partners (>300 publications). He has keen interest in postgraduate student training. He works closely with the Min of Health in Ethiopia on capacity building for clinical and operational research and on translation of research findings into practice. Dr Aseffa has also been active on strengthening regional partnership particularly in clinical trial capacity building and health research ethics. He has served in several WHO/TDR, WHO and EDCTP advisory bodies. He is a member of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (EAS).

Ashenafi is professor emeritus of food microbiology at the Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He has studied the microbial dynamics of the fermentation of traditional Ethiopian foods and beverages and the behavior of several enteric pathogens during the fermentation process. This special research into the food and dietary practices of Ethiopians has generated foundational scientific knowledge about microbial fermentation, spoilage, preservation, and safety in traditional Ethiopian foods. He has recently been working on the importance of food safety and nutrition to the food security of Ethiopian households. His work has helped in laying the groundwork for further research in the field. He has been a Fulbright fellow and has also won the Faculty Scientific Achievement Award of the Ethiopian Scientific Society. in 2022, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from People to People (P2P) Health Care Professionals organization in diaspora. Washington DC, USA.

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.

Ermias Dagne is Prof. of Chemistry and Dir., African Laboratory for Natural Products (ALNAP). He is founding member, Natural Products Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa (NAPRECA). His main research area is natural products chemistry. He has more than 90 publications, mainly on the isolation and structure elucidation of natural compounds. His research was supported by grants from the Internatl. Foundation for Science, ISP-IPICS and Sida-SAREC (Sweden) and fellowships from the Humboldt Foundation (AvH, Germany) and Fulbright (USA). He is recipient of IFS/DANIDA (1997) and IOCD Pierre Crabbe (2003) awards. With his wife Tadelech he manages a natural products business Ariti Herbal (www.aritiherbal.com) and has created a versatile plant species-based database for African plants available on the web at www.alnapnetwork.com.

Fanta is a an Adjuct Professor in the Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia. He holds PhD (1996) from SLU, Sweden. He was Executive Manager of AEM, Associate Professor in University of Botswana, African Regional Director of FSC, Forestry Research Director and Director General, ex-EARO, Ethiopia. He has produced 331 scientific publications. His awards include Trophy for outstanding contribution to forest research in Ethiopia; Gold Medal and Certificate of Appreciation for meritorious achievements in NARS-Ethiopia; Man of the Year (2008) representing Ethiopia; Key of Success; Commemorative Medal of Honour; International Cultural Diploma of Honor and Man of the Year (2000).

Mammo is professor of chemistry at Addis Ababa Univ., Ethiopia. He was educated at AAU and the Univ. of Bonn, Germany. He was chairman of the Dept. of Chemistry, AAU, (1997-99), editor and editor-in-chief of the Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. (1993-96) and visiting professor at Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden (1996-2013). His major contributions are in the synthesis of a wide variety of polythiophenes and polyfluorene copolymers destined mainly for photovoltaic applications. Through support from ISP, Sweden, he established one of the best modern synthetic chemistry facilities in Africa at AAU, which gives strong support to materials research and training. He is the recipient of the 2012 CNR Rao Prize for scientific research. His research interests include natural products chemistry and the synthesis and characterization of conjugated polymers for photovoltaic applications.

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.

Amatore is Emeritus Director of Research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, and a Professor at the École Normale Supérieure and the Sorbonne University Pierre and Marie Curie, France. He obtained his Doctorat d’Etat ès Sciences from the Paris Diderot University. He is a Member of the French Académie des Sciences; Member of the Academia Europaea, based in London; Foreign Member of The Chinese Academy of Sciences and of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences; Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, also based in London, and of the Chinese Chemical Society; Fellow and President of the International Society of Electrochemistry; Fellow of the Electrochemical Society, based in Philadelphia, US; and Honorary Member of the Israeli Chemical Society. He is Honorary Professor of eight major universities worldwide. He served as one of the 20 members of the High Council of Science and Technology, an advisory body to the French President. He received many awards and prestigious medals and is Knight of the French Legion of Honour, Commander of Academic Palms and received the Friendship Award from the People Republic of China.

Eleuch is a professor-chair of research excellence in quantum information and AI at Univ. Polytechnique Hauts-de-France. He received his PhD in quantum physics in 1998, from Kastler Brossel Laboratory at the École Normale Supérieure and the University Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris), France. He has visited and worked at several prestigious institutions such as Texas A&M University, Max Planck Institute, Princeton University, McGill University, the University of Auckland, and the University of Montreal. Eleuch has authored more than 300 papers and holds 21 US patents. He has received fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the Max Planck Society, and the International Center for Theoretical Physics. He is a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, a member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society (US), and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Academy of Scientists. He has been ranked among the top 2% of scientists, according to Stanford University's rankings, both in career-long and annual categorises, since 2019. In 2024, he received the Abdul Hameed Shoman Prize for Arab Researchers in Science.

Lehn, at the University of Strasbourg, France, is Professor at the Institute of Advanced Study, Chair of Chemistry of Complex Systems, and Hemeritus Professor. He is also Honorary Professor at the Collège de France, Paris, where he has been since 1979. From 1970 to 1979, he was Professor of Chemistry at the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg. In 1987, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Donald Cram and Charles J. Pedersen, for his studies on the chemical basis of molecular recognition, which also plays a fundamental role in biological processes. His work led to the definition of a new field of chemistry, which he defined as 'supramolecular' chemistry and deals with the complex entities formed by the association of two or more chemical species held together by non-covalent inter-molecular forces. He is author of more than 990 scientific publications and is a member of many academies, institutions and several industrial bodies. He received numerous international honours and awards.

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.

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.

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.

From Oct 2015 till Sept 2020, Grötschel was President of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He obtained his PhD in 1977 at U Bonn, was full professor of mathematics at U Augsburg (1982-1991), at TU Berlin (1991-2015) and Vice President (1991-2012)/President (2012-2015) of the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB). He was President of the German Mathematical Society (1993-1994), Secretary of the International Mathematical Union (2007-2014), chaired the DFG Research Center MATHEON “Mathematics for Key Technologies” (2002-2008), and held many other administrative positions in the service of the sciences. His scientific awards include the Leibniz, the Beckurts, Dantzig, Fulkerson, and John von Neumann Theory Prize. He is a member of five scientific academies, including NAE (USA) and CAS (China) and holds four honorary doctoral degrees.

Parkin (PhD, 1981, Cambridge, UK) is Director, Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics and an Alexander von Humboldt Professor, Martin Luther University, Halle, Germany. He is elected Fellow, Royal Soc.; Roy. Soc. Eng.; Am. Phys. Soc.; Materials Res. Soc. (MRS); Inst. of Physics (London); Inst. of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Am. Assoc. for the Adv. of Science; Am. Acad. of Arts and Sciences; Gutenberg Res. College; Leopoldina. He is elected Member, Natl. Acad. of Scs. (NAS), and Natl. Acad. Eng. (NAE) USA; Hon. Fellow Indian Acad. Sciences. His honours include: Gutenberg Res. Awd.; Humboldt Res. Awd.; Am. Inst. of Physics Prize for Industrial Applications of Physics; European Physical Soc.’s Europhysics Prize; Am. Physical Soc.’s Intl. New Materials Prize; MRS Outst. Young Invest. Awd.; MRS von Hippel Award; Charles Vernon Boys Prize and Swan Medal, Inst. of Phys. London; Millenium Technology Prize (2014). He has authored >600 papers and has more than 120 issued patents.