Dr. Jikun Huang is Professor at School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences and Honorary Director of China Center for Agricultural Policy (CCAP) and Director of New Rural Development Institute in Peking University, Fellow TWAS, Honorary Life Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), and Fellow of Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA). He is vice-president of Chinese Association of Agricultural Economics. He received his BS degree from Nanjing Agricultural University in 1984 and PhD in agricultural economics from University of the Philippines at Los Banos in 1990. His research covers a wide range of issues on China's agricultural economics, policies and rural development. He received Award for China’s Outstanding Youth Scientists in 2002, Outstanding Achievement Award for Overseas Returning Chinese in 2003, Fudan Prize for Eminent Contributor to Management Science in 2008, and IRRI’s Outstanding Alumni Award in 2010. He has published more than 660 journal papers, including the papers published in Science, Nature and many leading journals in development economics. He is co-author of 28 books.

Xu is professor at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He served as director of SIOM from 1992 to 2001, and is currently chairman of the academic council of SIOM. He has made outstanding contributions to laser physics, optical science and plasma physics, particularly to laser fusion, high power lasers, laser-plasma interactions, X-ray lasers, high field physics and ultrafast optics. He is a member of CAS, a fellow of the Optical Society of America and has served as vice president of the Chinese Optical Society from 1993 to 2012. He is also founding editor and editor-in-chief of Chinese Optical Letters. As the first winner, his major awards include Natl. Sci. and Tech. Progress Award, 1st class, 2004; two Natl. Natural Science Awards, 2nd class, 1995 and 2001; Natl. Innovation Award, 2nd class, 1999; HLHL Prize, 1998.

Nancy Ip is President of HKUST and the Morningside Professor of Life Science. Taking office in October 2022, she is the first female president of a publicly funded university in Hong Kong. She joined HKUST in 1993, holding various roles including Vice-President for Research and Development and Dean of Science. Ip is world-renowned for her significant contributions to the field of neuroscience. Her outstanding research has resulted in 352 scientific papers and 144 granted patents. She has been elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Sciences, among other academies, and has received numerous awards, including the National Natural Science Awards and the L’OREAL-UNESCO for Women in Science Award. Ip plays a significant role in shaping research policy on a global scale. She is currently a member of the Leadership Group of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative and the World Dementia Council. Additionally, she plays a key role in steering science and technology in Hong Kong. She currently serves as a member of the Chief Executive’s Council of Advisers.

Guanrong Chen is the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Chair Professor in Engineering and the Founding Director of the Centre for Complexity and Complex Networks at the City University of Hong Kong. He was elected IEEE Fellow in 1997, received the State Natural Science Awards of China in 2008, 2012 and 2016 respectively, awarded the 2011 Euler Gold Medal from Russia, and conferred Honorary Doctor Degrees by the Saint Petersburg State University, Russia in 2011 and by the University of Normandy, France in 2014. He is a Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering in the past decade. In 2014, he was elected a Member of the Academia Europaea. In 2025, he was elected a Fellow of the Network Science Society.

Yam studied at the University of Hong Kong (BSc 1985, PhD 1988). She joined City Polytechnic of Hong Kong in 1988 and moved back to her alma mater in 1990 and was promoted to professor in 1997. Yam is currently the Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor in Chemistry and Energy and Chair Professor at HKU. She was elected to Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2001), Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences (2012), Fellow of the TWAS (2006), Foreign Member of Academia Europaea (2015) and Founding Member of The Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong (2015). She was the Laureate of the 2011 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award and recipient of a number of awards, including the RSC Centenary Medal, RSC Ludwig Mond Award, JSCC International Award, JPA Eikohsha Award, APA Masuhara Award Lectureship, State Natural Science Award, CCS-China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) Chemistry Contribution Prize, and Bronze Bauhinia Star etc.

Su obtained his MS in mechanical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1961 and his PhD in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley in 1967. He is professor at the State Key Lab of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, China; honorary director of the Second Institute of Oceanography. He is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 1992 and foreign member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences since 1999. He was Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Earth Sciences Division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1992-1998 and 2002-2006; Chairman of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), 1999-2003; Principal Lead Author (1993-1996) and Convening Lead Author (1996-1997) of IPCC Second Assessment Report / Working Group II, Review Editor (1998-2000) of IPCC Third Assessment Report / Working Group II.