Sabrina Moriom Elias is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Life Sciences at the Independent University, Bangladesh. Her teaching focuses on genomics, bioinformatics, biostatistics and plant biotechnology. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She earned a PhD focusing plant genomics and quantitative genetics from the University of Dhaka. Her research interests are focused on functional genomics studies using gene editing and cloning technologies for development of climate-resilient crops. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow in a continuation of the PhD project and was chosen for the Beachell Borlaug International Scholar impact award from Bayer in 2020. She worked as a researcher in National Jute genome project, Plant Biotechnology Laboratory at Australian National University, as a guest faculty in University of Dhaka, and cBLAST—an online bioinformatics course platform. She is a member of the Global Young Academy and current Secretary of the National Young Academy of Bangladesh.

Taufiqul Islam graduated in medicine from Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, University of Dhaka (2008). He earned a master in public health (2016) from the American International University-Bangladesh and a Diploma in vaccinology from the Institute Pasteur, Paris, France. In 2020, he entered a PhD program at Griffith University, South East Queensland, Australia. His research interests include vaccine studies on Japan encephalitis, flu, and oral poliovirus vaccine. He was involved in Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCV) studies in urban settings. Islam contributed to setting the Cholera Vaccine Investment Strategy to enhance the cholera control program in Bangladesh. He is actively involved in the safety evaluation of OCV in pregnant women. He has expanded his scientific interests, which include vaccine delivery and surveillance in the complex humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh. His work aims at controlling endemic cholera in Bangladesh, to help achieve the 'Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030' target. His scientific interest also covers the evaluation of vaccine co-administration. Islam has contributed to 30 research articles, which have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

Leslie Karina Tejeda Perez earned her PhD in food engineering (2013) from the University of Lund, in Sweden. She also earned a degree in chemistry (2007) from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), in La Paz, Bolivia. During the doctoral studies, she investigated the chemical composition, the antioxidant activity of Andean grains (quinoa and cañihua) and the polyphenolic content in isolated items and processed food (lunches). She is a member of the spin-off company Swebol Biotech, dedicated to formulating functional foods based on Bolivian crops. At UMSA she coordinates the Innovation Management project, aimed at building up innovative programme management to support science, technology, and innovation based on the quadruple helix model (university, government, industry, and society). The project is receiving five-year support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. With the Math-AmSud network, she also coordinated a project aimed to establish a collaborative network among Latin-American countries and France. The research topic of the proposal is Chemical Graph Theory, an important and modern area of discrete mathematics and chemical science.

Diego Marques is a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Brasilia, Brazil. At the same university, he teaches elementary and advanced courses on number theory for undergraduate and graduate students. He earned a Bachelor in Mathematics and a Master in Mathematics from the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil, and his PhD in mathematics from the University of Brasilia. Then, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, in Canada. With over a decade of experience, Marques has supervised more than ten doctoral theses, focusing mainly on transcendental number theory and its techniques. His research interests include transcendental number theory, the arithmetic behaviour of transcendental functions, Diophantine approximation, Diophantine equations, recurrence sequences, and elementary number theory. In 2010, for his contributions to research, he was bestowed the Young Researcher Award from the Federal District Research Support Foundation, in the Federal District, Brazil. In the same year, he was elected as the youngest affiliated member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, strengthening his position in the academic community.

Carolina Palma Naveira Cotta has been an Associate Professor of mechanical engineering and head of the Laboratory of Nano and Microfluidics and Microsystems, at Poli & COPPE-Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, since 2011. At UFRJ, she earned a Bachelor of Science (2004), Master of Science (2006) and DSc (2009) in mechanical engineering, and she currently teaches heat transfer, mathematical methods, and transport phenomena at the nano and micro-scales. Her research interests also cover heat transfer enhancement, inverse problems, hybrid methods, water desalination, and sustainable energies. She has experience in research with the industrial sector, including sponsored projects with major companies such as Petrobras, General Electric, INB, and GALP. In 2014, she became an Affiliated Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, for the term 2015–2019. In 2016, she was elected member of the Scientific Council of the International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer. She received competitive research productivity grants from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and the Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Dimobe is an Assistant Professor at the Insitute of Environmental Science and Rural Development, University of Dédougou, in Dédougou, Burkina Faso. Since January 2019, he has been working as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Dédougou. In 2020, he received the African-German Network of Excellence in Science grant for junior researchers. Dimobe earned a Master of Science in botany (2007), and in applied plant biology (2010), both from the University of Lomé, Togo, and a PhD in botany and plant ecology (2017) from the University Ouaga I Professor Joseph KI-ZERBO, in Burkina Faso, and Rostock, in Germany. From 2017–2020 Dimobe worked with the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use as a research scientist and member of the Earth Observation Applications Unit. His research interests include climate change, natural resources management, biogeography, conservation, and biomass modelling. He is involved in capacity building, especially in the use of open access earth observation data and software for addressing environmental change problems. In 2015, he spent six months at the University of Rostock, Germany, as a visiting scholar.

Tonjock Rosemary Kinge is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Bamenda, in Bamenda, Cameroon, where she teaches mycology, plant pathology and botany. She earned a Master of Science in Botany and a PhD in Botany (Mycology) from the University of Buea, in Buea, Cameroon. Her scientific interests include: mycobiome analysis, fungi diversity, mushroom domestication and conservation, plant pathogenic fungi assessment and control, ethnomycological studies and multidisciplinary research. Tonjock is a member of the Cameroon Academy of Young Scientists. In 2019, she was named Fellow of the Africa Science Leadership Programme at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. In 2020, she became an affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. She won a TWAS-Chinese Academy of Sciences postgraduate fellowship (2008–2009), China; a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Free State, South Africa (2016–2017); and a Fulbright scholarship at the University of Florida (2017–2018), in Gainesville, Florida. Currently, she is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

Dr. Kifah Gharzeddin is a crop breeder and geneticist. The plurality of his researcher identity includes crop genetic improvement and the role it plays in benefitting human health and food security. Gharzeddin’s expertise has contributed to the development of various crop breeding programs in Canada and Syria. Gharzeddin’s faba bean breeding program resulted in the release in 2014 of two registered varieties in Syria originated from ICARDA. In Canada, Gharzeddin developed his molecular research of crop breeding after he joined Carleton University in Ottawa. Gharzeddin collaboratively developed the first chickpea breeding program in Ontario starting in July 2020. Through this program, Gharzeddin identified several adapted accessions to different environments. In January 2024, Dr. Gharzeddin joined the University of Windsor (South-West Ontario), working at one of the top agricultural regions in the world, and with the aim to develop high yield and resistant crop cultivars grown in the Windsor-Essex region (e.g tomato). Dr. Gharzeddin expertise spans crop variety development, plant molecular biology and physiology, Plant-Environment Interactions, Biometrics, and Science Communication.

Nathalie Casanova-Morales is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Adolfo Ibáñez University in Santiago, Chile since 2020. She is specializing in experimental physics with an interdisciplinary approach, playing a pivotal role in establishing the local Interdisciplinary Physics Laboratory, easing and promoting access to physics tools from different areas. She holds a bachelor's degree in applied physics from the University of Santiago, Chile and a degree in engineering physics, both from the same institution. In 2012, she obtained a PhD from the University of Montpellier, France. She has implemented her academic competencies by working in several postdoctoral positions in Chile. Through the application of an interdisciplinary lens to physics, biology, and chemistry, she leverages her experimental expertise to employ physics techniques and innovative processes. This enables her to comprehend crucial parameters in bioprocesses within an interdisciplinary framework. Committed to expanding her expertise, she concentrates on biophysics, microbiology, parasitology, nanotechnology, and biochemistry, all disciplines that are vital for interdisciplinary research.

Roberto Rodriguez-Labrada is the Deputy Director of the Cuban Neurosciences Centre, in Havana, Cuba. He earned a PhD in health sciences (2013) from the University of Medical Sciences of Havana. He was the Deputy Director of research at the Centre for the Research and Rehabilitation of the Hereditary Ataxias, in Holguín, Cuba (2006–2019) where he ran projects on the epidemiological, clinical and neurophysiological characterization of Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2, improving the disease staging, the description of biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and treatment strategies. He won international awards from the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (2017), the International Brain Research Organization (2007, 2011) and the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (2008), as well as prizes from the Cuban Academy of Sciences (2014, 2019) and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (2014–2019). In 2019, he received the Carlos J. Finlay Order, the highest Cuban recognition awarded to researchers. In 2012, he became a Young Affiliate of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and, in 2019, a member of the Steering Committee of the Pan American Hereditary Ataxia Network.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 a Senior Lecturer 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.

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.

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.

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).