Graduated in Medicine in 1953. From 1957 to 1985, worked at the Medical School of Ribeirão Preto-USP. From 1985 to 2010: chaired the Hypertension Unit, Heart Institute of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo (InCor-FMUSP). His main research field is experimental and clinical hypertension, especially the neurogenic mechanism. From 1993 to 2007: President of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. From 1998 to 2002: Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology in Developing Countries (COSTED) of the International Council of Science. From 2000 to 2003: co-chairman of the InterAcademy Pannel-IAP, representing Brazil at the Executive Committee of the InterAcademy Council-IAC (2000-2010), and the Inter-Academy Medical Panel (2010-).He is currently the director for International Relations of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo, member of the National Council of Science and Technology, and the Vice-President of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).

Kohayakawa (PhD, Cambridge, 1991) is a Full Professor at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of São Paulo. He works mainly in the areas of discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science. He was one of the first researchers to promote the use of Szemerédi's regularity method in the sparse setting, focusing on analogues of classical extremal problems in sparse random environments. More recently, he investigated limits of permutation sequences and successfully obtained strong estimates on the number of B_h-sets. His papers on chromatic thresholds of graphs, co-authored with P. Allen, J. Böttcher, S. Griffiths, and R. Morris, received the 2018 Delbert Ray Fulkerson Prize of the American Mathematical Society and Mathematical Optimization Society. He is a member of the Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo and of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

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.

Klein is Carnell Professor of Science and director of the Institute for Computational Molecular Science, at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA. He was Hepburn professor of physical science and director, Lab. for Research on the Structure of Matter, Univ. of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Philadelphia. After his PhD (Univ. of Bristol) and postdoctoral work in Italy, England, and USA, he joined the National Research Council of Canada. In 1987, he joined UPenn where he established the Center for Molecular Modeling. He is member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, a fellow of: Royal Society of London; Royal Society of Canada; and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Awards include: American Physical Society Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics; American Chemical Society Debye Award in Physical Chemistry; and Bernie J. Alder CECAM Prize, European Physical Society.

Kim is professor of Graduate Studies in the Department of Chemistry at UC Berkeley. He has held a variety of academic and research positions including: Fulbright Fellow (1962); Guggenheim fellow (1985-86); and visiting professorships at Beijing University (1982), University of Paris (1986), and Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (2011- ), and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (2016- ). He has also received many awards including: Earnest O. Lawrence Award, USA (1987); Princess Takamatsu Cancer Foundation Award, Japan (1989); Ho-Am Prize in Science, Samsung foundation, Korea (1994); Korean Academy of Science and Technology Prize (2000); and Legacy Laureate Award, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (2005). He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Korean National Academy of Sciences; and fellow of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.

Khush is adjunct professor at UC Davis. He obtained his PhD at UC Davis in 1960. After serving as assistant geneticist at the same university for seven years, he joined the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines as plant breeder. He retired as principal plant breeder and head of the division of plant breeding, genetics and biotechnology in 2002. His honours include 14 honoris causa doctorates and several awards including the Japan Prize, World Food Prize, Rank Prize, Wolf Prize, Golden Sickle Award, Mahathir Science Award and the Padma Shri Award by the President of India. He is a member of 9 science academies including Indian National Science Academy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences.

Khanduja obtained her BA, MA and Ph.D. degree from Panjab University, Chandigarh and thereafter taught in that university for more than 35 years. In April 2011, she joined Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali and at present is INSA senior scientist in this institute. She is fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences Bangalore, National Academy of Sciences Allahabad and Indian National Science Academy (INSA) New Delhi. In 2015, she was awarded Professor V.V. Narlikar memorial lecture award of INSA. As a teacher in Panjab University and IISER Mohali, she took part in various programs promoting the cause of mathematics and she was coordinator of NBHM (National Board for Higher Mathematics) Ph.D. and M.Sc. scholarship tests from 2003 to 2010.

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

Khan serves as vice-chancellor, University of Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. He remained as chairman, Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Peshawar (UOP), Pakistan, as vice-chancellor of Kohat University of Science and Technology, and director, Directorate of Advanced Studies at UOP. He also holds adjunct positions at Hunan Agricultural University, China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was elected a Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (2021). He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed research papers, with an impact factor exceeding 960, and a total citation count of 25,325. His current h-index is 71. He has published 1 book and 6 international book chapters, and supervised 35 PhD and 28 Master of Philosophy students. Khan has developed and patented a biochar-based organic fertilizer, and successfully recovered high-purity food-grade calcium carbonate from marble waste, for which he received a patent from the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan. He earned many awards, including the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, the Gold Medal from Pakistan Academy of Sciences, the Young International Scientist Award, and the Best University Teacher Award.

Ajmal is Distinguished National Professor of the Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilization, University of Karachi (UOK), Pakistan. After his PhD (Ohio University) and postdoctoral work (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah), he returned to Pakistan in 1985 and has worked at UOK and other institutions. His research has had important practical applications in the production of high quality forage, fodder, edible oil and bio-fuel in areas that cannot sustain conventional agricultural crops due to high soil salinity and poor quality of irrigation water. He is the recipient of Presidential Award of Pride of Performance (2001); Presidential Award of Sitara-e-Imtiaz (2007); Distinguished National Professor (2004), PAS Distinguished Scientist of the Year 2008, Meritorious Professor (2011) and D. Sc. from University of Karachi (2011). He is an elected fellow of PAS (2001) and IAS (2011).

Khan, a leading figure in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, boasts a remarkable career marked by prestigious accolades and ground breaking research. He holds a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Karachi. He has received many awards, including Gold Medals from the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and recognition from Elsevier Publishers. His contributions to science have been acknowledged nationally with civil awards and Research Productivity Awards from the Pakistan Council for Science & Technology. Khan's establishment of a cutting-edge laboratory at the University of Karachi's International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences reflects his dedication to advancing research. Noteworthy achievements include pioneering work on enzyme inhibitors against diabetes, peptic ulcers, and leishmaniasis. He has advanced microwave-assisted synthetic chemistry in Pakistan, simplifying complex reactions. Khan's mentorship of young scholars and publication record demonstrates his commitment to fostering scientific excellence. With over 900 research papers published in reputable journals, his impact on medicinal chemistry is profound and far-reaching.

Khakhar is currently an emeritus Fellow in chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. His research interests include the mechanics of granular materials and polymer processing, all fields where he has currently published more than 150 papers. For his research achievements, he has received several national awards, including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (1997), the Swarnajayanti Fellowship (1998) and the J. C. Bose Fellowship (2010). Khakhar is also a recipient of IIT Bombay's Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Mathur Award for Research Excellence. He is a Fellow of all three science academies of India and the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and currently the Indian National Academy of Engineering chair professor. From January 2009 to April 2019, Khakhar served as the director of IIT Bombay. He has been a member of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board since 2011, and currently serves on the Governing Body of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is also the chairman of the governing board of the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, the Department of Science and Technology and the Bose Institute, Kolkata.

Kellner (PhD 1996, Columbia U., New York, American Museum of Natural History) is prof. and researcher at the Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro since 1997, investigating paleobiodiversity and development of ancient ecosystems. Described +60 species, published +200 original studies (publications total +800). Advised +50 master, PhD students and postdocs. Organized field activities to remote areas of Brazil, Iran, China, Chile and Antarctica. Headed several scientific meetings and is involved in communicating science, through publications, documentaries and exhibitions such as During the Time of the Dinosaurs (1999-landmark in Brazil), exhibitions in Japan and New York. Among awards and honors: TWAS Prize 2010 and Ordem Nacional do Mérito Centífico (Brazil, 2010). Elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) and TWAS and honorary member of other organizations.

Kayanja is chancellor of Gulu University in Uganda. Doubly qualified in veterinary and human medicine, he attended undergraduate courses at the Universities of London and Oxford, was a postdoctoral researcher at the Nuffied Orthopaedic Unit, University of Oxford, and obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. He has received an honorary causa doctorate and was a gold medalist of the Royal College Medical Association. He was also awarded The Commendeur de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Republic of France and the Science Research Excellence Award of the Republic of Uganda. He is a member of the African Academy of Sciences and the Uganda National Academy of Sciences. Research interests: Mammalian reproduction; the vascular role in osteogenesis; Zoonotic diseases; Ecology and the Environment.

Kaveh is a distinguished professor of structural engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology. He obtained his PhD (1974) from Imperial College, London, and DTech Bauwesen (1993) from TU-Wien. Since then, he has been teaching at IUST, TU-Wien, and other universities in Iran. His honors include the Memorable Scientist of Iran and Gold Medal of Education. He is a fellow of the Iranian Academy of Sciences, fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and member of 8 scientific societies, founder and editor of more than 5 scientific journals and advisory member of many journals and conferences. He has published 735 scientific journal papers, 155 conference papers, 23 books in Farsi and 18 books in English, the latest being 'Topological Transformation for Efficient Structural Analysis', 2023, Advanced Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithms and their Applications in Structural Optimization, 2nd ed.' 2017, and ' Applications of Metaheuristic Algorithms in Civil Engineering', Springer, 2017.

Karunaweera is the chair, senior professor of parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and honorary visiting fellow at the School of Public Health, Harvard University, USA. Trained as a medical parasitologist she has extensive teaching and research experience in tropical diseases, with special emphases on vector-borne diseases. Elected Fellow of National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka, she is the first Sri Lankan elected as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and as a Distinguished International Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She received several research grant awards, both international and local, including Tropical Medicine Research Centre Award, by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, US. Fellowship awards received include Harvard University’s Senior Research Scholar Award (2005/6); Fulbright Advanced Research and Lecturing Award (2005). She is the founder president of Sri Lanka National Chapter of Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and current president of Sri Lanka College of Microbiologists.

Karimipour began his studies in electrical engineering before switching to physics and earning his PhD from Sharif University of Technology, where he has been a faculty member since 1993, and is now a physics professor. His early research focused on quantum groups and integrable models, later expanding to exactly solvable models in statistical mechanics, particularly reaction-diffusion systems. As a contribution to this field, he developed an algebraic model for particles overtaking each other in a line and related it to traffic flow. Since 2001, he works in quantum computation and quantum information, mentoring many students who now work in Iran and abroad. His work covers various areas of quantum information theory, and is restricted to formal and mathematical aspects, like entanglement theory, and capacity of quantum channels. He was a regular associate of ICTP (1998–2013) and a Simons Associate (2015–2023). He served on the editorial board of the European Physical Journal D (2019–2024) and was named an outstanding referee by the American Physical Society, in 2013. Since 2007, he co-founded and co-organized the biennial IICQI conference series and contributed to ICTP schools.

Jorge Kalil is Professor of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Director, Immunology Laboratory, Heart Institute, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo; Adjunct Professor at the GWU, USA; Coordinator, iii-Institute for Investigative Immunology; Former Director, Butantan Institute; Past President, International Union of Immunological Societies. Graduated in Medicine, Doctor of Science in Human Biology, University of Paris VII, in Jean Dausset’s laboratory (Nobel Prize 1980 for HLA). He was Visiting Professor, Stanford School of Medicine, and International Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He studies the mechanisms of immune recognition and distinction of self and no self, with over 550 publications (ISI) and several patents. He is member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Grand Cross of the Brazilian National Order of Scientific Merit, Chevalier of the National Order of Merit of France, Doctor Honoris causa by Sorbonne Universités and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He represents Brazil in the ICGEB.

Kailath was educated in India (BE, 1956) and MIT (SM, 1959; ScD, June 1961). He then worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab., before joining Stanford University in January1963, where he is currently Hitachi America Prof. of Elec. Eng., Emeritus. His major awards include: US National Medal of Science, presented by President Barack Obama; IEEE Medal of Honor; IEEE Educ. Medal; IEEE Kilby Signal Proc. Medal; IEEE Claude Shannon Award; Silicon Valley Eng. Hall of Fame; BBVA Foundation Prize in ICT; Padma Bhushan Award from the President of India; Guggenheim,Churchill and Humboldt Fellowships; Hon. D.Sc. from universities in France, Greece,India, Israel, Scotland, Spain and Sweden. Member US Natl. Acad. of Eng., US Natl. Acad. of Sciences, Amer. Acad.of Arts and Sciences;For. Mem., Royal Society of London, Royal Spanish Acad. of Eng., TWAS, Indian Nat’l Acad. of Eng., Indian Natl. Science Academy, Indian Acad. of Sciences, Natl. Acad. of Sciences,India; Fellow,IEEE, AMS,SIAM,Inst Math Statistics

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.

Kabir earned his MSc in biochemistry in 1983 from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB), University of Dhaka (DU), Bangladesh and his PhD in nutritional biochemistry in 1990 from the Laboratory of Nutrition, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, Japan. He then held a postdoctoral position under a joint fellowship with the United Nations University and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at the National Food Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan (April 1994-April 1995). He was a professor at BMB, DU from December 1997 to January 2023, when he retired. Previously he was associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Life Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait (September 2004–June 2009, on leave from DU); associate professor, BMB, DU (December 1991–December 1997); assistant professor, BMB, DU (April 1990–December 1991); and lecturer, BMB, DU (April 1984–March 1990). He was a visiting scientist as a JSPS Fellow at Tohoku University, Japan (December 2003–May 2004); and at Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Karlsruhe, Germany (August 1998–March 1999).

Joshi, an internationally acclaimed scientist, was a senior professor in the department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, before joining Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT) as their provost, and founding director for the International Center for Cosmology (ICC). He is regarded as a scholar, physicist, and an expert on cosmology. Joshi’s research interests are general relativity and cosmology. He has made fundamental contributions in black hole physics and gravitation theory. His extensive analysis of general relativistic gravitational collapse has been widely recognized as providing significant insights into final fate of massive collapsing stars in the universe, formation of space-time singularities, and cosmic censorship. His research which mainly revolves around Cosmology and Gravitation Physics, has been reported in more than 200 research papers in international journals of repute, and also in monographs from Oxford University Press (OUP), Cambridge University Press (CUP) and other books on the subject. He has held visiting faculty positions in several countries doing research, lecturing on these topic.

Joshi is an agricultural scientist with a PhD in agricultural science earned in Japan, and over 25 years of experience in the field. He has been at the forefront of agrobiodiversity conservation, developing and promoting more than 100 innovative methods and best practices for managing agrobiodiversity. His interventions comprise crops, livestock, forages, agro-insects, agro-microbes, and aquatic agricultural genetic resources. His pioneering efforts include genetic enhancement of landraces, biotechnology applications, GIS, climate analog tools, participatory and evolutionary plant breeding, and agricultural policy development. Joshi has published more than 600 articles, edited 25 books, and served as editor-in-chief for two scientific journals. He has taught plant breeding, genetics, biotechnology, and statistics at various universities and was a resource person in international training. He received 12 awards and serves as president of the Plant Breeding and Genetic Society of Nepal. A life member of many scientific organizations, his motto is to make agricultural genetic resources competent and dynamic, emphasizing ecological yield, food health index, and ecological agriculture.

Professor of Physics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) since 2002, Jorio de Vasconcelos earned his doctoral degree in physics from the same institution in 1999, working with phase transitions in incommensurate systems. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA (2000–2001), where he worked with the optical properties of nanomaterials, focusing on Raman spectroscopy and optical properties of carbon nanomaterials. Back to Brazil, he founded the Laboratory of NanoSpectroscopy (LabNS) at UFMG in 2006, where he works with research and development of scientific instrumentation in optics for the study of nanostructures with applications in new materials and biomedicine. He held the positions of Coordinator of Strategic Studies and Information at Inmetro (2008–2009) and Director of Technological Transfer and Innovation (2010–2012), head of the Physics Depart, and Dean of Research (2016–2018) at UFMG. He was a Visiting Professor at the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 2013) and at the Freie Universitat, Berlin, Germany (2016).