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

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

Mekonnen is a Professor of Cell and Human Physiology in the Department of Biology at the College of Natural and Computational Sciences of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. She has published extensively in different peer reviewed scientific journals on topics of respiratory physiology, medicinal plants and other related topics. She has advised many MSc and PhD students and she has also mentored young professionals, specially women, over the last three decades. She was involved in leadership positions and has initiated a number of national, continental and international research networks and collaborations. In 2013, she was able to establish with other colleagues the Society of Ethiopian Women in Science and Technology, to help empower and mentor women academicians and researchers in Ethiopia. In 2015, she received the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Scientific Award for Women in Science. She was appointed as Ambassador Scientist by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany as part of a worldwide network for excellence from 2016 to 2021. Currently she is the Principal Vice-President of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences.

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

Krickeberg is retired professor of exceptional class of the U. of Paris V (since 1998). After having earned his Dr.rer.nat. from the Humboldt-U. of Berlin and his Habilitation from the U. of Würzburg, he held full professorships at the U. of Heidelberg and Bielefeld and visiting full professorships at the U. of Aarhus and Columbia U., New York. He was Pres. of the Bernoulli Society for Probability and Mathematical Statistics. He has worked extensively in Latin America and South East Asia, both in mathematical statistics and in public health. His honours include: Fellow, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, USA; Dr. (h.c.), U. of Vienna and Natl. U. of Ho Chi Minh City; member, Germany Acad. of Sciences (Leopoldina); Medal of Merit, Vietnamese Ministry of Health; Hon. Professor, Thai Binh U. of Medicine and Pharmacy. Current work: Public Health in Vietnam (teaching, counseling, research).

Lê is emeritus professor, University of Aix-Marseille, France. He was educated at Lycée Voltaire and Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris and Paris University. His subsequent positions included: Assistant, Faculty of Sciences, Paris University; attaché de recherches; chargé de recherches, and maître de recherches, CNRS; vice chairman and chairman, Mathematics Department, University of Paris 7; maître de conférences, Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France; professor, University of Paris 7; directeur de recherches, CNRS, Marseille, France; and professor, University de Provence, Marseille. He was also head of the mathematics group at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. He is editor of the International Journal of Mathematics, Journal of Singularities and Acta Mathematica Vietnamica. He was awarded the Prix d’Aumale by the French Academy in 1990.

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

Ouhabaz studied at the University of Marrakesh in Morocco and got his PhD in France in 1992. Early in his career, he was Researcher at the Technische Universität Berlin, and a member of the Max-Planck group at the University of Potsdam, Germany. Back to France, he was Associate Professor at the University of Marne-la-Vallée, next to Paris. He is currently Professor at the Institut de mathématiques de Bordeaux, University of Bordeaux. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Institut national des sciences mathématiques et de leurs interactions (INSMI), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). He was a scientific delegate at the Haut Conseil de l'Evaluation de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur (HCERES) and corresponding member of the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology, Morocco. He was the Head of the CNRS research group Functional Analysis, Harmonic Analysis and Applications, and Deputy Director of the Institut de Mathématiques de Bordeaux. He is the author of a book published by Princeton University Press and has written more than 68 research articles.

Jaye (DVM, PhD) is a Professor of Global Health Education and Researcher Leadership at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK, and Head of Research Training and Career Development at the Medical Research Council (MRC), The Gambia Unit at LSHTM. He was HIV Immunology Group Leader at MRC (1998–2018) and Interim Head of the Viral Diseases Program (2008). He headed the MRC West Africa HIV Collaboration Platform from 2010–2015 based at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. He coordinated two major capacity building network programs (WANETAM & WAPHIR) for the West African region for multi-centre clinical trial collaboration in HIV, TB and Malaria. He is a member of the MRC Leadership Board. He received professional recognition awards: Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation Leadership Award (2007); Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (2015); MRC Director’s Award for Inspirational Research Leader (2013); Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Science and Technology Award for outstanding contribution in the field of Viral Immunology and Research Training (2017); LSHTM Directors award for Excellence and Innovation in Developing Students as Researchers.

Sadunishvili graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1975 with a diploma in biology/biochemistry at the Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Georgian Academy of Sciences. She obtained her degree of Candidate of Science (1980) and Doctor of Science (1995) in biology with studies on the structure, kinetics and regulation of nitrogen metabolism enzymes. Since then, working as Head of Laboratory at Durmishidze Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology (DIBB), her research topics have expanded by studying structure-function changes in plant cells under contamination stress, microbial diversity, development of bio and phytoremediation technologies based on selected plants and microbial consortia, phytopathogenic bacteria and their specific bacteriophages. In 2013, she was appointed as Full Professor and Head of Department of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Georgia. In 2009, Sadunishvili was selected as Corresponding Member, and in 2015 Full Member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. She is an author of five monographs, and above 150 scientific publications, including reviews and book chapters.

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

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

Qaim was educated at Govt. College/Punjab Univ., Lahore, Pakistan. He earned PhD at Liverpool Univ., DSc at Birmingham Univ. (UK), and Habilitation at Köln Univ. He is advisor in nuclear chemistry, Res. Ctr. Jülich; prof., Köln Univ.; senior teacher at FH Aachen; hon. prof., Govt. College Univ., Lahore, and chief editor, Radiochimica Acta. He is chair, Education Committee of World Council on Isotopes, Korea/USA, and Tutor at the IAEA-supported intern.school on Radionuclides held in Korea. His work covers radiochemistry, nuclear data and radionuclides in medicine. His awards include: Eötvös Medal and hon. Fellowship, Hungarian Physical Society; hon. Citizenship and hon. Doctorate, Debrecen Univ., Hungary; hon. Doctorate, Yorker Intern. Univ.; JARI Award Medal, Pergamon Press; Medal of Honour, Egyptian Atomic Energy; Medal of Honour, Rajshahi Univ.,Bangladesh; Medal of Honour, Government College University Lahore, Pakistan; Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan; Hevesy Medal of Radiochemistry; and Becquerel Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry, London. He was Research Professor of TWAS for Bangladesh. He is foreign fellow, Pakistan Acad. of Sciences and fellow, Islamic World Acad. of Sciences.

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

Von Braun is Distinguished Professor (em.) for Economic and Technological Change at Bonn University, Germany, in the Center for Development Research (ZEF). His research is on economic development, science and technology policy, poverty reduction, food and nutrition security, agriculture, resource economics, climate, and trade. He is President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican, and of various academies of science. In 2020 and 2021 he served as Chair of the Scientific Group for the Food Systems Summit 2021 of the UN Secretary General. From 2002 to 2009, he was Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Washington DC, USA. He was elected as President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), and received several national and international honors and awards.

Rolz-Asturias was educated at the U. de San Carlos, Guatemala and UC Berkeley. He is Director, Biochemical Engineering Center, Research Inst., U. del Valle de Guatemala. His previous positions include: Research scientist, Central American Research Inst. for Industry (ICAITI) (1965-69); head, Applied Research Division (1969-89); coordinator and prof., Center for Science and Technology Studies (CECT), ICAITI (1989-94); head and principal scientist, Science and Technology Unit (UCT), ICAITI (1994-96); vice president, Guatemalan Acad. of Sciences (1993-96); Dean, Research Inst., U. del Valle de Guatemala (1997-2000, 2004-09); and lecturer at San Carlos University (1965-80), Rafael Landivar U. (1985-90) and Del Valle University (1985-90). He has been awarded the Guatemala Science and Technology Medal in 2000. He is fellow, Guatemalan Acad. of Sciences and the Latin American Acad. of Sciences.

Agrawal is Professor in Computer Science department at IIT Kanpur. He obtained his PhD in 1991 from the same department, spent a few years in Chennai Mathematical Institute before joining IIT Kanpur in 1996. His awards include Clay Prize, Godel Prize, Fulkerson Prize, Bhatnagar Prize, TWAS Prize, ICTP Prize, Infosys Prize, and Humboldt Award. He is a member of all three science academies and engineering academy in India as well as Foreign Associate of US National Academy of Sciences.

Ahmed (PhD, 1987, Mines ParisTech, France) is Professor, School of Sciences, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, India. An earth scientist, he worked extensively on groundwater hydrology in his 37 years’ career at CSIR's National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad. Later he was Chair Professor in Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He led a large number of national and international projects on Earth science including the National Aquifer Mapping, India using heli-borne geophysics. He has more than 150 SCI publications and supervised 40 doctoral theses. He is Secretary of the Asian Global Network on Water and Development Information for Arid Lands. His awards include National Geoscience Award, International Prize for Water Sciences, National Mineral Award, INC-IAH Excellence Award, NGRI-AHI National Lecture Award, IGU-Annie Talwani Memorial Prize, Young Scientist Award. He is Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of India. Ahmed has led the Indo-French Centre for Groundwater Research in Hyderabad for almost two decades as its founder head. He has been visiting Fellow to the Aligarh Muslim University and visiting professor to Kashmir University, India.

Ajayaghosh is the Director of the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India and Professor of Academy of Scientific Innovative Research, CSIR, India. He obtained his Ph.D in Chemistry in 1989 at University of Calicut, India. He has made significant contributions in molecular assemblies, fluorescent materials, organogels, molecular probes and photoresponsive materials. His awards includes INSA medal for young scientists, S S Bhatnagar prize, Khwarizmi International Award, Infosys prize, TWAS prize, CRSI Silver Medal and J.C.Bose National Fellowship. His membership includes: Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and the TWAS fellowship.

Balakrishnan (PhD 1979, Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore, India) is an Hon. Professor, at the Supercomputer Education and Res. Centre, Indian Institute of Science (IISc). He was Associate Director IISc (2005-2014). He has made important contributions to Aerospace Electronics, Computational Electromagnetics, Language Technologies, Information Security, and Information and Communication Technologies. His awards include: Padmashree, Pres. of India; Prof SN Mitra Memorial Award, IETE Diamond Jubilee Medal; Jawaharlal Nehru Lectureship of INSA; JC Bose National Fellowship; Hari Om Prerit Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Res. Award; and JC Bose Medals of Inst. of Electronics and Telecommunication Eng. for best papers. He is a Fellow of: TWAS, Indian Natl. Acad. of Eng.; Indian Acad. of Sciences; Indian Natl. Science Acad.; National Acad. of Sciences; Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Eng..

Balasubramanian is Distinguished Scientist and Director of Research-Emeritus, L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India. After his PhD at Columbia Univ. and postdoctoral research (Univ. of Minnesota), he joined the IIT, Kanpur in 1967. In 1977, he moved to the Univ. of Hyderabad as Professor and later Dean. In 1982, he joined the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, where he was Director (1992-98). He is Fellow of all science academies of India, the German Acad. of Sciences Leopoldina, the Mauritian Acad. of Sciences, the African Acad. of Sciences, and of AAAS, US; member, Intl. Molecular Biology Network and World Innovation Foundation; winner, TWAS Prize in Medical Sciences; Khwarizmi Award, Iran; Bhatnagar, FICCI, Ranbaxy, Goyal and Bhasin Awards, India; UNESCO KALINGA Prize; Indira Gandhi National Award of India, Popularization of Science; Padma Shri; and Chevalier de l'Orde National du Merite, France. His field of research is: the biology of the eye

Bambah obtained his MA (Panjab, Govt. Coll., Lahore) in 1945, PhD (Cantab, St. John's College) in 1950 and ScD (Cantab) in1970. He is professor emeritus of Panjab Univ., Chandigarh. His previous positions include: Fellow, St. John's College, Cambridge; member of the Inst. for Advanced Study, Princeton; professor and vice chancellor, Panjab Univ., Chandigarh; professor, Ohio State Univ.; president, Indian Mathematical Society; vice president, Indian Natl. Science Academy; and general president, Indian Science Congress Assn. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Lecture Award (ISCA), the Aryabhatta Medal (INSA), Ramanujan Medal (INSA), Ramanujan Lecture Award (IMS), Ramanujan Medal (ISCA); and Meghnad Saha Award (UGC). He is a fellow of the Indian Natl. Science Academy, the Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Bandyopadhyay completed her BTech and MTech in Computer Science from Calcutta University and IIT Kharagpur, respectively. She joined the Indian Statistical Institute as a faculty member after completing her PhD from the same Institute. She is currently the Director of the Institute. Her areas of research interest include computational biology and Bioinformatics, soft and evolutionary computation, data mining and machine learning, where she has published more than 325 research articles in journals, conferences and edited volumes. She has published six authored/edited books from publishers like Springer, World Scientific and Wiley. She has worked in and delivered invited lectures in various Universities and Institutes world-wide. She has received several awards and fellowships, including the Bhatnagar Prize, Infosys award, TWAS Prize, DBT National Women Bioscientist Award (Young), INAE Silver Jubilee Prize, Young scientist/engineer medals of INSA, INAE and Science Congress, JC Bose Fellowship, Swarnajayanti Fellowship and Humboldt Fellowship. She is currently a member of the Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of India.

Banerjee is Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata. He obtained his BE in 1981 from the Bengal Engineering College (Calcutta University), the M.Tech. in 1983 from the IIT Delhi, and PhD in 1988 from the IIT Delhi. He was in the faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur from 1986 to 2009. His recognition includes the SS Bhatnagar Prize, the Citation Laureate award of Thomson Reuters, and Fellowships of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the Indian National Science Academy, the National Academy of Sciences India, and the IEEE.

Barma is Professor Emeritus with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research at the TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad and former Director of TIFR. After PhD from the State University of New York Stony Brook (1974), he did postdoctoral work at Michigan State University and joined TIFR in 1976. He has worked in the areas of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, phase transitions, and disordered systems. Between 2002-05, he served as chair of the IUPAP C3 Commission on Statistical Physics and is currently a vice president of IUPAP. Honours include: INSA Young Scientist Award; Bhatnagar Prize; Indian Science Congress SN Bose Centenary Medal; Goyal Prize. He is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (New Delhi), the Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore), and the National Academy of Sciences (Allahabad), and a recipient of the JC Bose Fellowship. He was conferred the Padma Shri by the Govt. of India.

Basu was educated at Presidency College and Univ College of Science, Kolkata. He obtained his MSc (1964) and PhD (1968) in biochemistry. He is currently JC Bose Chair Professor of the Natl Academy of Sciences India at the Natl Inst of Science Communication and Information Resources, New Delhi. His previous positions include: Faculty associate, Dept of Microbiology, Michael Reese Med Ctr, Chicago; instructor and asst professor, Southwestern Med School, Dallas; asst director, Indian Inst of Chem Biol, Kolkata; deputy director, acting director and director, Inst of Micro Technol, Chandigarh; professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Ctr for Adv Scientific Research, Bangalore; director and professor of eminence of the Natl Institute of Immunology, New Delhi. He is elected member of the Indian Natl Science Acad; Indian Acad of Sciences; Natl Acad of Sciences India; and Amer Soc of Biochem and Mol Biol.

Bhattacharya is professor, Dept. of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India. He received his PhD at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA, in bioorganic chemistry, focusing on kinetic differentiation of bilayer surfaces in synthetic functional vesicles. He then worked as NIH postdoctoral fellow at MIT, in the laboratory of Nobel laureate H. Gobind Khorana, focusing on the biology and chemistry of signal transduction involving membrane proteins. He subsequently moved to IISc Bangalore where he ultimately became full professor. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Sciences (INSA) and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He has won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Sciences from the Prime Minister of India, the TWAS Prize in Chemical Sciences in 2010, AV Rama Rao Endowment Lecture 2010, a J C Bose fellowship and the GD Birla Award.

Bhattacharyya is presently a professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) Bhopal. He obtained his PhD in 1984 at Calcutta University. After postdoctoral work at Columbia and Notre Dame, he joined the faculty of IACS in 1987. His main interest is in femtosecond dynamics in nano-confined systems which include biological assemblies. His most important discovery is the ultraslow nature of biological water. He is a fellow of all of the national science academies of India, and is a senior editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry. He received the Bhatnagar Prize (CSIR, India) in 1997 and the TWAS Prize in 2007.