Ratsimbazafy (PhD, 2002, State University of New York, USA and French Habilitation, 2011, University Antananarivo, Madagascar) is a faculty lecturer at the University of Antananarivo. He has published over 200 research papers, review articles and book chapters. Furthermore, he is the co-vice chair, Madagascar section, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) Primate Specialist Group; the director of Houston Zoo, Madagascar Program; and the president of the Madagascar Primate Research Group. Additionally, he is a member of Malagasy Academia and African Academy of Sciences. He has won many international awards and prizes such as: the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (1998); the Galante Award (2002) of the International Primatological Society; and the Disney’s Hero Conservation Award (2015). Recently, he received from the Council of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) the Lifetime Honorary Fellow 2019, which is the highest honor awarded by ATBC. He also received the African Primatological Society Award 2019. In February 2020, he was elected the president of the International Primatological Society.

BouJaoude joined the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1993 where he is now professor of science education. At AUB he served as chairman of the Department of Education, director of the Science and Math Education Center, and is now director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. He has published in local, regional, and international education journals, written chapters in books in English and Arabic, and co-edited a book on science education in the Arab States. He serves on the editorial boards of regional and international science education journals and has been a presenter at local, regional and international science education conferences. He has also served as international coordinator, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, and is a member of the executive board, Supreme Education Council, State of Qatar.

AlMomin is a Senior Research Scientist at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and Vice President of TWAS for the Arab partner since 2020. She contributed to the establishment of a Kuwaiti national biotechnology program and leads a Government initiative to establish a National Centre of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. She initiated the inclusion of KISR as an affiliated centre with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), being also Kuwait's Liaison Officer at ICGEB. AlMomin is a certified risk management professional from the International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBSA) and is a member of several entities, including the Commission of Science and Technology for Sustainable Development, the International Council for the Life Sciences, the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World. Her research interests are genetic engineering, diagnostics, population genetics, biodiversity, and biosafety. She led several pioneer projects and introduced several scientific innovations in her country and MENA region. She serves as a chair and member of several national and international committees.

Hussain is professor in the electrical engineering department at Kuwait University in Safat, Kuwait. He has done significant work in advancing the emerging technology, utrawide band impulse radar and radio communications, through basic design principles, and array beam forming and self-steering array antenna systems. In addition, he has also provided solutions to modified Maxwell equations for signals. He is a senior member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award and the Kuwait Prize for the Advancement of Science.

S. Omar (PhD, 1990, California, Berkeley) is Principal Research Scientist at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and Director General (2016-2021). She is Research Fellow for Agriculture in TWAS and former Treasurer. She was Executive Board Member and Vice President of the Arab States of OWSD, Regional Councilor for West Asia Region, IUCN, and former Member of Board of Director Asia Region of the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER), USA. She has fifty years of Research and Development, managerial, strategic planning, technical experience and project leadership for 27 contractual research projects. She is advisor and consultant to many local, regional and international organizations. She has been awarded by TWAS and many international organizations. She holds a PhD in Wild Land Resource Science, MS in Range Management and BSc in Botany and Chemistry.

Aster Gebrekirstos (PhD, Gottingen University, Germany, 2005) is senior scientist and head of the dendrochronology lab, World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya, and affiliated with Erlangen University, Germany. Her research is in the area of forest ecology, dendroclimatology, climate change, applications of stable isotopes, land restoration. She led and participated in research projects across Africa and Asia. She set up dendrochronology labs in Ethiopia (2009) and in Nairobi (2013). She taught at Alemaya and Wondo Genet University, Ethiopia; as visiting professor at WASCAL, and Dresden University in Germany. She trained 20+ PhD students, published 80+ journal articles and book chapters. Her awards include: African Climate Award for excellence in climate change research (2014), Special Award for Groundbreaking Science (2009). Fellow of African Academy of Science (AAS), International Academy of Wood Science, conferred Eleonore Trefftz Visiting Professorship Dresden University. She is a vice-president of International Union of Agroforestry, chair of Environment Committee at AAS, member of science leadership at Past Global Changes (PAGES) and Mountain Research Institute (MRI).

Khan (PhD 1980, Indian Agric. Res. Inst.) is principal scientist and leader of the widely-reputed push-pull programme at the Intl. Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) in Kenya. He is Thomas Odhiambo Dist. Res. Fellow of icipe. He is a fellow of the African Acad. of Sciences, the Entomological Soc. of America and the Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Soc., UK. He is an adjunct prof. of entomology at Cornell U., USA, and extraordinary prof. at the North-West U. in South Africa. Khan is a council member of the Intl. Congress of Entomology. In 2010 he received the Nan-Yao Su Award for Innovation and Creativity in Entomology and the ESA Distinguished Scientist Award, and in 2011, the TWAS Prize in Agricultural Sciences and in 2015 Louis Malassis International Prize for Outstanding Career in Agriculture for his contribution in the field of agriculture and food

Ngila (PhD,1996, University of New South Wales) holds MSc in Chemistry (1992), Bachelor of Education in Science (1986), Kenyatta University (KU). Her research is in water quality monitoring and nanotechnology for water treatment. She taught at KU (1989-1997); University of Botswana (1998-2006); University of KwaZulu Natal (2006-2011); and University of Johannesburg (2011-2017) as a Full Professor of Analytical/Environmental Chemistry. She was Head of Applied Chemistry Department (2013- 2016) and Ag. Director of the Water Node of the Nanotechnology Innovation Centre (2015) at the University of Johannesburg; Deputy Director at Morendat Institute of Oil and Gas, (April 2017- Feb 2020) and Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Riara University, Kenya (Feb 2020-current). She has over 200 journal articles. She trained over 30 Doctoral Students, 33 Masters and 22 Honours Students and 18 Postdoctoral Research Fellows. Awards include 2017 African Union Kwame Nkrumah and 2016 South Africa Distinguished Women in Science. Member of Academy of Science of South Africa; African Academy of Science. Currently Co-Chair of the 2021 Commonwealth Science Conference hosted by Royal Soc. and AAS.

Olago is Professor of Geology, Chairman of the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences, and Research Director, Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation, University of Nairobi. He has BSc and MSc degrees in Geology from the University of Nairobi and a DPhil degree in Physical Geography from the University of Oxford (Kenya Rhodes Scholar for 1990). His research interests are broadly in Quaternary and environmental geoscience, water resources and climate change. Olago has been involved in multi-disciplinary research, training and capacity building activities on global environmental change in sub-Saharan Africa for over 25 years. He has also contributed, as lead author, to the fourth and sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports. He is a fellow of the Kenya National Academy of Sciences, the Geological Society of Kenya, and the African Academy of Sciences.

Al-Nimr is Distinguished Professor at Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan. He obtained his Ph.D. (1991) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor - USA. He has published about 277 articles in different fields of energy and heat transfer. He was awarded the World Academy of Sciences Award (TWAS) in Engineering Sciences (2013), the Khalifa Award for Education (2012), the Khwarizmi International Award (2012), King Abdullah II Award for Innovation (2010), Scopus Award (2009), the Abed-Alhameed Shoman Award for Arab Scientists (1994) and many others. He is acting as an Editor-in-Chief of Energy Conversion and Management Journal – Elsevier since 2013. He is acting now as an Associate Editor for 12 other journals.

Badran (MSc and Phd. at Mich State U.) is Chairman Board of Trustees U. of Jordan, Chancellor U. of Petra, with more than 120 pubs., including 46 books and 4 patents. He was awarded honorary doctorates from, Sungkyunkwan U., Seoul; an Honorary Doctorate in Science from Michigan State U.; West Watkins distinguished Lectureship Award and Hall of Fame Alumni Award from Oklahoma State U. USA; Honorary Professorship from Eurasian National U. Kazakhstan; Honorary Doctorate in Business, Yarmouk U., Jordan. Awarded Arab Thought Foundation for best Arab Scientist in higher education research; TWAS Regional Prize for Building Scientific Institutions; Asia award for Outstanding Contribution to education. Badran is a former Prime Minister of Jordan (2005), Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Education, Former Deputy Director General of UNESCO Paris 1990-1998, President Arab Academy of Sciences and AFED.

Dajani is currently a Yidan Global Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a professor of molecular biology at the Hashemite University, in Jordan. Her area of expertise is epigenetics and biomarkers of trauma among refugees. Through her leadership, she has introduced national and regional stem cell laws and presided over numerous scientific boards and United Nations councils, most recently as the president of the Society for the Advancement of Science and Technology in the Arab World. She has held visiting professor positions at Harvard, Yale, MIT, Jepson School of Leadership and Cambridge, and is an advocate for building indigenous research capabilities in the developing world, and for creating a mentoring programme to support women scholars in STEM that was recognized by the National Academy of Sciences. Rana is a social entrepreneur and a global thought leader. She is the founder of We Love Reading, a grassroots initiative to create changemakers in underserved communities by fostering a lifelong love of reading. A recipient of the UNESCO International Literacy Prize, We Love Reading has established more than 8,000 locally run libraries in over 70 countries.

Ghassib is professor of theoretical physics at the University of Jordan. After obtaining a PhD in physics and completing postdoctoral work at Manchester University, he returned to Jordan in late 1975. Since then he has worked in various capacities at the University of Jordan and other institutions, including the Arab Thought Forum, Majlis El Hassan and the newspaper AL ARAB AL YAWM. His honors and awards include: Abdul Hameed Shoman Prize for Young Arab Scientists in Fundamental Sciences, Amman, 1986; Al-Hussein Order of Merit for Distinguished Contribution, 2nd order, 1998; and 1st order, 2000; Distinguished Researcher Prize, The University of Jordan, 2011. He is a member of the Jordan Academy of Arabic (1984-) and the New York Academy of Sciences (1981).

Marwala is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and the rector of the UN University. He was previously vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg and deputy vice-chancellor for research, postgraduate studies and the library, and was previously dean of engineering and the built environment, University of Johannesburg. He was professor of electrical engineering, and Carl and Emily Fuchs Chair of systems and control engineering, University of the Witwatersrand. He has been chair of the Local Loop Unbundling Committee and non-executive director of SITA, EOH, Denel and City Power. He has received more than 40 awards including: Order of Mapungubwe, and President Award, National Research Foundation. He holds a PhD in engineering from University of Cambridge. He has supervised 47 masters and 37 PhD students and published 25 books, 300 refereed papers in journals, proceedings and book chapters and holds 3 international patents. He is a fellow of many organizations including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Prof. Osumi graduated Tokyo Medical and Dental University, was given PhD thesis from the same university, and now is a professor of Tohoku University School of Medicine since 1998. She was one of the 25 Distinguished Professors in Tohoku University from 2008 to 2011, and has become Vice President of Tohoku University as well as Director of Tohoku University Libraries from 2018. Her research background is developmental biology, and she has interest in brain development, evolution, and disease. More recently, she has much interest in gendered research focusing on sex differences in the brain. She was a representative of CREST project (2005-2010) supported by JST, and Global COE project (2007-2012) as well as Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (16H06524) “Integrative Research toward Elucidation of Generation of Brain Systems for Individuality”. Currently, As the Director of Gender Equality Center at Tohoku University, Dr. Osumi is promoting the policy of diversity in academia, providing various information through the website and social media, and organizing various events networking female researchers.

Anthony Clayton is the Professor of Caribbean Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies, Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey and Affiliated Scholar at Florida International University. He was formerly a Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh, Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology (Jamaica), and an International Associate at the University of St Andrews. He is a Fellow of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences and Distinguished Fellow of the Caribbean Association of Eastern European Trained Professionals. He has over thirty years of international experience in policy development in national security and policing, energy security, environment and resources, and planning and development. He is the Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica. In 2015 he was awarded Jamaica's Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander.

Kahwa is a Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, where he served as Professor of Suporamolecular Chemistry, Deputy Principal, Dean (Faculty of Science and Technical Technology) and UWI-wide Dean for Science and Technology. He was also Head of the Department of Chemistry. Education: BSc (Chemistry, Mathematics and Education), 1976 and MSc (Inorganic Chemistry), 1980 - University of Dar es Dar Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania; PhD (Inorganic Chemistry), 1986, Louisiana State University, USA as Fulbright Scholar. Positions held at UDSM: Lecturer and Senior Lecturer. Membership: Fellow Caribbean Academy of Sciences, American Chemical Society and Royal Society of Chemistry. Awards: CARICOM (Science), Gleaner (Science and Technology), and UWI Vice Chancellor (Excellence in Research and Public Service) and Order of Distinction (Commander Class) - CD (Government of Jamaica). He is the Co-author of the five-yearly UNESCO Science Report (CARICOM Chapter) since 2005 and has played key roles in development of Jamaica's Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.

Taylor earned his PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA in 1999. He is a professor of climate science and dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at the Mona Campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI). He is a fellow of the Caribbean Academy of Science, and the co-director of the Climate Studies Group, Mona (CSGM), which is a center of regional thought and expertise in climate change science for small islands and the wider Caribbean. He has served on several national and regional (Caribbean) committees and advisory boards related to climate change science and its impacts on the Caribbean. Most recently, he was appointed to the climate change advisory board of the Government of Jamaica. He is a coordinating lead author for chapter 3 of the special report on 1.5 degrees of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has received the Silver Musgrave Medal for Science from the Institute of Jamaica and is the 2019 ANSA Caribbean Laureate for Excellence in Science.

Baralle (PhD 1969, U. of Buenos Aires -UBA) has been director general at Intl. Centre for Genetic Eng. and Biotech. (ICGEB) in Trieste, Italy (2004-14). He now leads the ICGEB RNA Biology Group and is vis. prof. in Buenos Aires. From 1968 to 1974 studied Medicine at UBA and completed his MD in 1984 at the U. of Naples. Previously, he worked at the Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas Fundación Campomar and at the MRC Lab. of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK. From 1980 to 1990, he was university lecturer of pathology at Oxford and fellow of Magdalen College. In 1990 he joined ICGEB. He is an elected member of EMBO and of the Argentine Acad. of Sciences. In 1977 he published the first complete primary structure of an eukaryotic mRNA, βglobin mRNA. His current research focuses on RNA splicing and RNA-protein interactions in neurodegenerative diseases. He has published over 220 papers.

Chela-Flores was educated in Caracas and London. In 1969, he obtained a PhD in physics at the University of London. He has been a Visiting Scientist at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, since 2014, where he had previously covered other positions: Staff Associate (1996-2014), Scientific Consultant (1990–1996), Visiting Scientist (1982–1989) and Associate Member (1972–1976). He is Professor Titular ad honorem and a founding member of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Caracas, and was a Research Associate at the School of Theoretical Physics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (1994–2019). He was Associate Researcher at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC) (1971–1978), and, at the University Simon Bolivar of Caracas, he was both Dean for Research (1979–1985) and Professor (1978–1990). He was awarded the Order Andres Bello by the Venezuelan Government. He is a member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences; and a Foreign Corresponding Member of the Venezuelan Academia de Ciencias Fisicas, Matematicas y Naturales.

Iaccarino obtained his MD at the Univ. of Naples (1962) and H. C. in Biology (1999) at the Univ. of Viterbo. Post Doc at Stanford Univ., visiting Prof. at Sussex Univ. Director of the International Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, Naples (1985-1993) and Director of the Institute of Molecular Genetics, Alghero (1994). Assistant Director General for Natural Sciences at UNESCO (1996-2000), where he organised several intergovernmental conferences, including the World Conference on Science (Hungary, 1999). Member of the Italian Evaluation committees for Research in Biology, Medicine and Biotechnology and of the evaluation boards of several international organisations (European Commission, EMBO, Human Frontier Science Program, and the British Council). Member of the EMBO Council and of the Council of ICSU, the International Council for Science.

Knobel serves as executive director of TWAS, a position he assumed in December 2024. A distinguished physicist and science advocate, Knobel brings more than three decades of experience in higher education leadership, scientific research, and science communication. He previously served as rector of the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil from 2017 to 2021, where he has been a faculty member for 30 years. With more than 300 scientific publications and numerous prestigious awards—including Brazil's most distinguished science and technology honour—Knobel is internationally recognized for his contributions to physics research, educational innovation, and science popularization. For his contributions he has received prestigious awards, including the 2022 CBMM Prize on Science and Technology (Brazil's most prestigious science and technology award), the 2019 José Reis Science Popularization Prize, and the 2013 Peter Muranyí Prize in Education. He is a Commander of the Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil) and holds a Doctor Honoris Causa from Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Plurinational State of Bolivia.

Panza former Professor of seismology (University of Trieste) and the Head of Structure and Non-Linear Dynamics of the Earth (SAND) group (International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. His scientific activity deals with integrated analysis of the structure and dynamics of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system; the integrated approach to modelling of seismic waves; and the earthquake-prone lineaments and premonitory seismicity patterns. He received Gutenberg Medal in 2000, doctorate h.c. in physics from University of Bucharest, Romania, in 2002; medal of honour by the Earth Sciences Committee of the Central European Initiative, in 2004; commemorative medal from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in 2009; honour of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2015, International AGU award 2018 among others. Panza is an honorary professor at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and at the Institute of Geophysics of the China Earthquake Administration; and elected member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and of the Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL, both in Italy, and of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Parisi is a theoretical physicist born in 1948, and a former student of the Italian physicist Nicola Cabibbo. From 2018–2021 he was president of the Accademia dei Lincei, and now is a member of various academies including the American Philosophical Society. In 2021 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales." He carried out his research activities at the Frascati National Laboratories, first as a fellow of the CNR (1971–1973) and later as an INFN researcher (1973–1981). During this time he spent long periods abroad at Columbia University, IHES, ENS. In February 1981, he was appointed full professor of theoretical physics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, a position that he held until 1992. Since 1992, he has been an emeritus professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza. His contributions cover many areas of theoretical physics, including particle physics, statistical mechanics, fluid dynamics, condensed matter physics, and scientific computer constructions. He has also published some papers on neural networks, the immune system, and starling flight.

Jerew is a member of Iraqi Academy of Sciences, and a leading Iraqi scientist who has made original research contributions on varied topics in control system engineering, electronic and computer engineering, and informatics and computer software. He is also currently Advisor for Technical Education and Programmes Development, Ministry of Manpower, Sultanate of Oman. He has occupied several top scientific and academic administrative positions, improving teaching, research, and higher education in Iraq. He is the author of 40 books and is a well known writer in the Iraqi and Omani media. He is a member of the Arab Science Academies, Syrian Academy of Arabic Language, Iraqi Engineering Society, and has won the state prize, science medal, science merit in Iraq, and the Gdansk Technical University Medal of Poland. He was named as one of the Arab Pioneers in Electronic Engineering, 2005.