Rao is group vice-chancellor for Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani campuses in Pilani, Hyderabad, Goa, Dubai and Mumbai. Prior to joining the BITS Group in 2023, he had served as director of Indian Institute of Technolog (IIT) Delhi (2016–2021) and as a chair professor for nanoelectronics, IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi. Rao, an internationally acclaimed nanoelectronics researcher, has over 480 research papers and 50 patents, including 20 US patents. Among his patents, 15 have been licensed to industries for commercialization. The patent on CMOS-System-on-Chip applications from his group is now used in countless integrated circuits sold all over the world. Rao is a co-founder of two technology startups at IIT Bombay—Nanosniff & Soilsens—which have successful commercial products on the market. He is also well known for establishing major nanoelectronics programmes in India. For his research accomplishments, Rao has been elected a Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Indian National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, India; and Indian National Science Academy. He is a recipient of over 35 awards and honors in India and abroad.

Rangappa has developed more than 7,000 synthetic small molecules and implemented some of them against therapeutically important proteins. He served as a postdoctoral fellow, research associate, and visiting professor in more than 10 countries. He is a Fellow of: Royal Society of Chemistry, London; National Academy of Sciences, India; Biotech Research Society of India; and Karnataka Science and Technology Academy, India. He has published over 560 research papers in peer reviewed journals, and holds 10 patents for small-molecule inhibitors of therapeutic targets. Three of his patented compounds namely DMBO, NPB, and AMPC have been sold commercially as pharmacological inhibitors of growth factors, BAD protein, TFF3, respectively. His publications received over 12,500 scientific citations, with an h-index of 58. He has guided 61 candidates for PhD degree, and presently 5 students are working on their doctoral research under his supervision. He has been ranked among the top 2% of World Scientists released by Stanford University, USA. Recently, he developed a COVID-19 self-detection kit and submitted it to the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Prasad (PhD, Harvard University, 1989) has been chair professor, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India, since November 2018. He was distinguished professor (till April 2020) and dean, School of Mathematics (2011–2013), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai; president, Commission on Developing Countries of International Mathematical Union (2018–22); and president, Indian Mathematical Society (2022). He is an elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science (1995), and Indian National Science Academy (2003). He was awarded: Swarnajayanti Fellowship for Mathematics (1998–2003); JC Bose Fellowship (2010–2015 and 2015–2020); and Mega Grant, St. Petersburg, Russia (2018–2021). Prasad received the S.S. Bhatnagar Award for Mathematical Sciences (2002), and the TWAS Award in Mathematics (2019). Among his professional recognitions are: membership, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1992–93, 2006–07); research professorship, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, USA (2014); Chaire Jean Morlet, Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques, Marseille, France (2016). He was an Invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2018.

Pandey is distinguished scientist at the Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India; and executive director (honorary) at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, India. His major research and technological development interests are in industrial and environmental biotechnology and energy biosciences. Pandey has been Highly Cited Researcher (top 1%) according to Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science since 2018 (h-index 126; citations ~69,000) and has been ranking first in India in biotechnology and eighth in the world in the Stanford University, USA, Citation Report (since 2020). He is fellow of many societies such as World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies; Indian Chemical Society; International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability; National Academy of Sciences, India; Association of Microbiologists of India; International Organization of Biotechnology and Bioengineering; Biotech Research Society, India; and is academician of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Austria. Pandey has been visiting professor in 15 countries.

Jayaraman is a biotechnology and plant-microbiology professor at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Trinidad and Tobago (TT). He has completed over 25 funded research projects and published over 125 refereed publications. He has received several awards including UNDP-CARUTA Research Award; UWI Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Award for Outstanding Research Accomplishments; Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago Award, Government of TT for Outstanding Achievements in Applied and Academic Research; and Environmental Management Authority-TT- Greenleaf Award. He is a DST-BOYSCAST Fellow, and an elected Fellow of the Indian Phytopathological Society. He served as advisor to UNU-BIOLAC programme of the UN. He serves as plant protection advisor to programmes for several Caribbean states. A lead trainer for integrated disease/pest management (IDM/IPM) techniques for the Caribbean region, his research projects cover diverse topics focussing on sustainable agriculture including biological control, disease diagnostics, plant-microbe interactions, elicitor-biomolecules, induced disease resistance, seaweed-based products, genetic engineering of plants for biotic stress tolerance, etc.