Lydia Rhyman earned her PhD in computational chemistry (2013) from the University of Mauritius, where she is currently a research fellow in the Computational Chemistry Group. Her research interests lie in the use of computational chemistry methods, as a tool that provides insights into chemical systems at molecular levels, to complement experimental results and to solve chemistry-related problems that cannot be assessed at the experimental level. One such example is the characterization of molecular structures and the elucidation of reaction mechanisms. She actively promotes computational chemistry in Africa, as well as science education among girls in secondary schools and at tertiary level. She organises capacity-building activities to encourage students to orient their research toward tackling issues that the African continent is facing. She raises awareness of responsible research practices and integrity. She is an affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences, a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), the Global Young Academy, and the Commonwealth Chemistry Early Career Network Committee representing the African region.

Lai received his PhD in biomedical engineering from the Malaysia University of Technology and Ilmenau Technical University in Germany through the German Academic Exchange Service PhD Sandwich Programme. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Malaya, and chief technology officer of BioSight Sdn Bhd. Lai was awarded a fellowship by the Association of Commonwealth Universities by the UK in 2021 for his research on recovered COVID-19 patients’ risk of hospital readmission. Later, Lai was conferred the Young Engineer Award 2021 by the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia. Lai was also awarded the IEEE-EMBS Early Career Achievement Award 2021 by the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Malaysia Chapter the same year. Lai was elected as Fellow of Engineers Australia and Fellow of Institute of Engineers Malaysia. In 2022, Lai was bestowed the Board of Engineers Malaysia Most Prominent Young Engineering Leader Award by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

New is an associate professor with the School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM). She obtained a Bachelor of Science (Hon.) in industrial chemistry from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, and earned her PhD degree from the National University of Singapore. She then worked as a research scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*Star, Singapore before taking up her current job at UNM. Her main research interest is in developing DNA-based nanosensors to detect different analytes, such as cancer biomarkers and viral DNA. With computational aid, her group designs DNA probes using simulation algorithm, and then tests them at the bench. Such an approach has reduced random ill-attempts and overall costs, easing sensors customization for different types of targets. She was a Highly Commended Finalist of Women of the Future Southeast Asia, Science, Technology & Digital Category (2020), and received the L’Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science (2021). New is a Young Scientist Network-Academy Science Malaysia affiliate, a member of the Malaysian Institute of Chemistry and of the Committee of Royal Society of Chemistry Malaysia Chapter.

Halima Twabi is an associate professor of statistics at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Malawi. She holds a Bachelor of Science in statistics, as well as a Master of Science and a PhD, both in biostatistics from the University of Malawi. She studies causal inference for observational data, multivariate statistics, longitudinal and survival analysis, and statistical modelling and analysis of social and health data. Her recent work involves developing causal inference methods for non-experimental studies with multiple outcomes. In 2020, she received the L'Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Sub-Saharan Africa Young Talent Award for her work on applying causal inference to maternal and child health. In 2023, she was nominated treasurer of the International Biometric Society Sub-Saharan Africa Network, and treasurer of the IBS Malawi region. She is a founding member of the Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics network in Malawi, and collaborates on the project "Strengthen Modelling and Analytics Capacity and Ecosystem for Women’s Health" funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Onjamirindra Sarobidy Rakotonarivo is a research fellow at the Department of Forestry and Environment at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar. She holds a Bachelor of Science in agricultural sciences and a Master of Science in Sustainable Tropical Forestry. She earned a joint PhD in environmental and development economics from Bangor University, UK, and the University of Copenhagen, the Netherlands, in 2016. Her research interests are in nature-climate interventions in Africa, such as forest conservation, restoration, and climate-smart agriculture. She uses a mixed method approach, including field experiments and qualitative approaches, to study the political and socioecological factors that increase their effectiveness. By identifying what does and doesn’t work, and under what conditions, her research aims to support the design of policies that contribute to the long-term well-being of people and nature. She also has a track record of supporting evidence-based policy and working in multi-stakeholder engagement.

Phyllis W. Muturi is a Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Embu, in Embu, Kenya, where she teaches Agricultural Sciences. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Master of Science in Crop Protection, both from the University of Nairobi, in Nairobi, Kenya, and her PhD in Plant Breeding and Biotechnology from Makerere University, in Kampala, Uganda. Her interests include Crop Protection and Crop Improvement. She has more than six years of teaching and research experience. She is the Students’ Academic Advisor for Plant Breeding, Biotechnology and Crop Protection programmes. She is a member of the Biotechnology Technical Committee (2020–2022), a member of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (2019–2021), and the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (2019–2021). She was awarded Early Career Fellowship by Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World last year. In 2019, she received a visiting scholarship from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Uppsala) and in 2018 she was awarded the Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund Research Fellowships at Biosciences eastern and central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute, in Nairobi, Kenya.

Suhair Sunoqrot is an Associate Professor of Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan’s (ZUJ) Faculty of Pharmacy. She holds a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Jordan in 2007, and a PhD in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2013. Her research focuses on the development of nanoscale solutions to tackle delivery challenges of poorly water-soluble drug candidates, with special interest in the valorization of plant polyphenols both as therapeutic agents and as nanomaterial building blocks. She has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals and currently holds the highest number of citations across ZUJ and the highest H-index at the Faculty of Pharmacy. Notably, she was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Daniel Turnberg Fellow at King’s College London. She received the PhosAgro/UNESCO/IUPAC Green Chemistry for Life Award and the TWAS Prize for Young Scientists from Jordan in 2018. She is currently the only Jordanian member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) (2019-) and a TWAS Young Affiliate (2021-).

I am Dr. Ghanya Al-Naqeb an Associated Professor of Nutritional Sciences, (Nutrigenomics), a national of Yemen, I have a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences (Nutrigenomics) from University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia 2009. as well as a M.Sc. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia in 2005, and Nutrition degree, from the University of Damascus, Syria, in 1998. Currently am a senior scientist in the University of Pavia Italy in the Laboratory of Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine. My research so far is focusing on preclinical investigation on the role of herbal plants, nutrients, functional foods and nutraceuticals in disease prevention (in the area of obesity, oxidative stress, type 2 diabetes, anti-inflammation and cancer) in addition to addressing their toxicology and safety profile. My research experience spans a wide range of methodologies and technologies in green extraction, in vitro and in vivo research, molecular biology research, toxicology, and protein expression. I have gained my scientific experiences from different advanced laboratories in Malaysia.

Mohammed Kadhom is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Alkarkh University of Science in Baghdad, Iraq. He teaches courses on water and air pollution, basics in environmental pollution, and environmental awareness. He earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Baghdad, and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia, US. Kadhom's research and contributions encompass chemical and environmental engineering, with a focus on water treatment, desalination, adsorption, thin films, and nanomaterials. He served as a guest editor with three journals and participated as a reviewer with others. In 2016, he earned a certificate of merit from the American Chemical Society, securing various grants during his presence at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In 2021, he was awarded the Green Chemistry Summer School grant from the Green Sciences for Sustainable Development Foundation, Venice, Italy, receiving the best poster award. For his research achievements, he was awarded the Top Researcher Golden Medal (2024) from Alain University, Iraq for his scientific production.

Prabhat K. Singh is an associate professor with the Radiation and Photochemistry Division of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. He received his PhD from Homi Bhabha National Institute (2011) and pursued his postdoctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, US. His current research interests include ultrafast spectroscopy, supramolecular chemistry, and the use of self-assembled materials to design optical sensors for bio-sensing and chemo-sensing applications. He was honoured with the Young Scientist Award by the Department of Atomic Energy, India (2013), and by the National Academy of Science, India (2017). He served as a member of the Indian National Young Academy of Science (2017–2021) and the National Academy of Sciences, India (2017). He was a Young Associate of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (2017–2020) and, since 2023, is a fellow of Maharashtra Academy of Sciences, India. He is also a member of the German Global Young Academy (2020). He has been selected as a Fellow of the Indian Chemical Society and Associate Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy for the year 2023 and has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK).

Fernando Zorto is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Research Institute of Applied Science and Technology, Faculty of Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH). At UNAH, he teaches heat transfer, design projects, and research methods to engineers. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from UNAH and a Master of Science in project management from the Central American Technological University, also in Honduras. He is a PhD candidate in design, manufacturing, and managing industrial projects with Valencia Polytechnic University, in Spain. His research interests include atmospheric water harvesting, innovative projects, and aerospace systems. Since 2017, he has led the first satellite project in Honduras. He received the Honour of Merit of Engineering of the Pan-American Confederation of Mechanical, Electrical, and Other Fields of Engineering. In 2017, Zorto won the Best Essay about UNAH Scientific Research and Research Management at the XI Conference of Scientific Research UNAH.

María Eugenia Cabrera Catalán is a professor with the School of Physical Sciences and Mathematics and a member of the Institute of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (USAC), in Guatemala City. She earned a bachelor's degree in physics from USAC, and a diploma in High Energy Physics from The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, in Trieste, Italy. She earned a PhD degree in physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the Gravitation and Astroparticle Physics Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and with the Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, Brazil. Her research interests are in particle physics. She studies theory and phenomenology of physics beyond the Standard Model, collider phenomenology, theory and phenomenology of dark matter searches. In recognition of her contribution to science, Cabrera Catalán was awarded the 2021 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards in Physical Sciences for the Latin American and the Caribbean Region. She is a founding member of the Central American Network of High Energy Physics and Scientific Computing.

Mary Amoako (nee Adjepong) is a lecturer and dietician with the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in Kumasi, Ghana. At KNUST, she teaches metabolism in health and diseases, nutrition through the human life cycle, and nutrition in emergencies. She holds a Bachelor of Sciences in biochemistry and biotechnology and a Master of Philosophy in human nutrition and dietetics, both from KNUST. She earned a PhD in human nutrition from Michigan State University, East Lansing (US) and a professional certification as a registered dietician with the Allied Health Professions Council, Ghana. She is interested in global nutrition, dietetics, child and maternal nutrition. She received the Borlaug Higher Education in Agricultural Research Development (2014), and the Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (2016), both from USAID. She is an early-career fellow of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World. In 2023, she received the L'ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Young Talents Award, for Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Association of Commonwealth Universities Sustainable Development Goals grant.

Priscilla Kolibea Mante is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. She obtained her PhD in pharmacology from the same university in 2013. She was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan Medical School, US, under the University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars programme through which she underwent her postdoctoral training until 2018. Her research focuses on the development of better therapeutic options for resistant epilepsy. She is currently working on developing a portable device that reduces the costs of diagnosing mental conditions while improving the therapy. Mante received the International Rising Talents Award in 2019, in the frame of the L’Oréal Foundation-UNESCO programme. She is a beneficiary of the 2019 Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World Early Career Fellowship. She is also a Fellow of the Africa Science Leadership Programme and a Young Affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences. Mante is also a registered pharmacist with a specialization in neuropharmacology.

Amer Ahmed Al-Qaaod is a collaborative physicist with more than eight years of international experience, who is researching in reactor physics, nuclear systems design, particle transport simulations, application in low energy neutron physics, dosimetry and radiation shielding-detection modelling. He completed his doctoral and post-doctoral training in nuclear physics in Cairo, Egypt, and then moved to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, where he started a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in 2018. During his fellowship, he worked as a consultant in shielding design in the Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory, part of the Physical and Chemical Science Division at the International Atomic Energy Agency, before moving to the German National Metrology Institute (PTB), in September 2020. He is an expert in Monte Carlo simulation tools for modelling nuclear processes, Python programming language, and has a solid knowledge of radiation measurements equipment. He published more than 10 peer-reviewed publications and one scientific book in particle physics, and delivered oral and poster presentations at several international conferences.

Noushin Arfatahery is a dynamic researcher and advocate with a Doctor of Biology (PhD) from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, in collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute and Charité University. She also holds a Master’s in Food Microbiology and a Bachelor’s in Medical Science from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Her research focuses on aquaculture, microbiology, antibiotic resistance, and sustainable seafood production. She conducted advanced research on the symbiotic interactions of oysters and sea cucumbers during a fellowship at Vancouver Island University, Canada, with a focus on sustainable aquaculture. She presented her work at major international conferences, including the IAFP 2024 in the USA. Dr. Arfatahery was a John Maddox Prize nominee (2017–2019) and a 2022 Aquaculture Award finalist for environmental impact. She is a member of Aquaculture Europe and has published extensively on sustainable aquaculture and seafood safety. Her multidisciplinary expertise and advocacy for women in STEM and food sustainability make her a key contributor to advancing global scientific collaboration.

Paula Echeverría-Galindo is a scientific researcher with the Institute for Geosystems and Bioindication at the Technical University of Braunschweig, in Germany. At the same institute, she earned a magna cum laude recognition for her PhD degree in natural sciences. Paula holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, and a master’s degree in Limnology and Marine Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She has over 10 years of experience as a teacher of biology, geosciences and climate change. Her research interests are in climate change and its impact on aquatic communities. Paula is focusing on modern ecology and paleolimnological reconstructions, using multiple aquatic microorganisms, sedimentology and geochemical approaches to understand how the systems adapt and respond to global warming. Her research work has been carried out in the neotropics and on the Tibetan Plateau. She was awarded with a grant to expand her research in the neotropics examining paleolimnological data from volcanic lakes in Guatemala. She has been involved in activities related to gender equality and scientific outreach.

Fekadu Gurmu Balcha is a Senior Researcher at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 2016 he obtained his PhD in plant breeding from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Durban, South Africa. Through the first controlled crossing experiments in Ethiopia, he developed two vitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) varieties exhibiting farmers' desired traits (high dry matter content and high yield). The varieties were released in November 2019 and received good acceptance by farmers, seed producers and consumers. They are currently grown by the majority of the sweet potato producing farmers. In 2017, he received awards and letters of recognition from the Ethiopian former Prime Minister, His Excellency Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, and from the former President of the South Regional State in Ethiopia, His Excellency Mr. Dessie Dalke, in recognition of his contribution to food and nutrition security through the development of bio-fortified sweet potato varieties, seed production and technology dissemination to end-users. In 2020, he was awarded as an outstanding researcher by the Southern Agricultural Research Institute.

Elías Peraza has been the Educational Technological Prospective Manager of the Directorate of Educational Technology, Salvadoran Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, since 2022. He conducts studies in science, technology and innovation (STI), prioritizing those of interest to the education system, including emerging technologies. He graduated in business administration from the University of El Salvador in 2010 and earned a master’s degree in business management for innovation and internationalization from the University of Basque Country, Spain, in 2011. In 2019, Peraza received a PhD in economics with cum laude distinction from Universities of Burgos, Valladolid and Salamanca, Spain. He studied both his master’s and doctorate thanks to scholarships from the European Union. Peraza has published academic and diffusion articles about systems of innovation, STI policies, business innovation behaviour, and economic policy. Regarding awards, he got the Ruben Dario Central American Award for Academic Excellence in 2009, and participated in the 22nd TWAS-LACREP Young Scientist Conference at Rio de Janeiro.

Lobna Said is an Associate Professor and Program Director of the Microelectronics System Design Master Program at Nile University in Egypt. At the same university, she teaches electric circuits and electronics courses. She holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in electronics and electrical communication from Cairo University, Egypt. She earned a PhD in electronics and electrical communication from Cairo University, Egypt. Her research interests are interdisciplinary, including modelling, optimization, linear and nonlinear circuits and systems, and chaos theory. In recognition of her contributions to science and development, Said was a winner of the 2019 State Encouragement Award for Engineering Science. In 2019 and 2020, she was the recipient of Dr. Hazem Ezzat Prize for the Outstanding Researcher. In 2020 and 2021, Her name was in the top 2 percent of scientists according to the Stanford Report. In 2021, she was awarded the IEEE Outstanding Branch Counsellor & Branch Chapter Advisor Award.