Gadagkar is Prof., Centre for Ecol. Scs., Ind. Inst. of Sc.(IISc); Chairman, Centre for Contemp. Studies (IISc); DST Year of Science Chair Professor; Hon. prof., Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Adv. Sci. Res., Bangalore; non-resid. perm. fellow, Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin; Member, Executive Board, International Council for Science (ICSU). His awards include: TWAS Award in Biology; Yg Associateship, Ind. Acad. of Scs (IAS); INSA Medal for Yg Scientists; SS Bhatnagar Prize; BM Birla Sci. Prize; Homi Bhabha Fell.; BP Pal Natl. Envrnmnt. Fell., JC Bose Natl. Fell.; 2014 AV Rama Rao Tech. Award, CSIR; Cross of the Order of Merit, Germany. He is a fellow of IAS; INSA; Natl. Acad. of Scs.; for. assoc., Natl. Acad. of Scs., USA; member, German Natl. Acad. of Scs. Leopoldina, 2012, Intl. Council for Sc. (ICSU).

After doctoral (Brookhaven Lab.) and postdoctl. work (Carnegie-Mellon), he joined the Materials Science Lab., IGCAR, Kalpakkam (1976-81), served as reader, U. of Hyderabad (1981-86); prof. and dean, Phys. Scs. JNU (1986-99); dir., SN Bose Ctr., Kolkata (1999-2005), Found. Dir., IISER, Kolkata (2006-11) and Vice-Chancellor, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan (2011-16). Honours include: INSA Young Scientist Medal; Snr. assoc. ICTP; Humboldt fellowship; Ramanna prize; Raman award, Science Congress; Saha Medal, Natl. Acad., Allahabad; Raman Prize, INSA, JC Bose Fellowship. He is fellow of all Ind. natl. sci academies. Four notable research monographs are 'Relaxation Phenomena in Condensed Matter Physics' (1987), 'Dissipative Phenomena in Condensed Matter', with S. Puri (2004), 'A Paradigm Called Magnetism' (2008) and 'Diffusion - Formalism and Applications' (2013).

Swaminathan is a renowned agriculture scientist. Considered the scientific leader of the Green Revolution, his approach is at the heart of sustainable agriculture. His awards include: World Food Prize; A. Einstein World Science Award; Honda Award; Ramon Magsaysay Award; Tyler Prize; Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award; UNESCO Gandhi Prize; Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. He chaired the Intl. Comm. on Peace and Food; is UNESCO chair in ecotechnology; was pres., Pugwash Conf. on Science and World Affairs, chairman, Natl. Comm. on Farmers of India. He is currently Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha); chairman, MS Swaminathan Research Foundn., Chennai, India; and hon. chair for sustainable development, Indira Gandhi Natl. Open U., New Delhi. He is Fellow, Indian Natl. Science Acad.; Royal Soc. of London; US Natl. Acad. of Sciences; Russian Acad. of Sciences.

Chakravorty was educated in Kolkata at Mitra Inst., Scottish Church College, U. College of Sc. (PhD 1961), and at MIT and Harvard. He is emeritus prof. of IACS, Dept. of Inorganic Chem., Indian Ass. for the Cultivation of Sc., Kolkata, where he also served as prof. and head. He was also prof. and head, Dept. of Chem., Indian Inst. of Tech., Kanpur. His awards and honours include: SS Bhatnagar Prize; TWAS Award in Chem.; DSc (h.c.); TR Seshadri, Acharya JC Ghosh, RC Mehrotra, CRSI Gold and ICS Gold Medals; INSA Golden Jubilee Research Professorship; JNCASR Hidustan Lever Research Professorship, Tata Chemicals Platinum Jubilee Distinguished Emeritus Professorship; fellowships of Indian Acad. of Scs. and INSA. He has been on the editorial boards of major journals and publications including Inorg. Chem., Dalton Trans., Inorg. Chim. Acta and Comprehensive Coord Chem (2nd edition).

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.

​​National Science Chair, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi; Invited Professor, IIT Delhi; Distinguished Professor, Sharda University, Greater Noida; ​Robert Koch Fellow (Berlin); Formerly: Vice-Chancellor, Univ of Hyderabad; Hon. Prof., JNCASR, Bangalore; first Director, CDFD, Hyderabad. Hasnain received PhD from JNU (1980), DSc (h.c.Multiple), DMedSc (h.c.); postdoc. training in Canada/USA, and was Staff Scientist, National Inst. of Immunology, New Delhi. Awards include: Germany's Das​Verdienstkreuz, 1. Klasse Award (2014) from German President; Humboldt Res. Prize, Germany; SS Bhatnagar Prize; Ranbaxy Res. Award; GD Birla Award; JC Bose Natl. Fellow, ​B.R. Ambedkar Award of the ICMR, Padma Shri (Civilian Award). Frmr Member, Sci. Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India (2004-2014); Frmr President, All India Cell Biology Soc.; Elected Fellow of German National Acad. of Sciences, Leopoldina; American Acad. of Microbiology, USA; National Science Academies of India (INSA, IASc, NASI, etc.). He is Editor/Member editorial ​boards of natl./intl. journals and Biotech Advisory Council of various states and has authored +350 publications/patents.

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.

Suresh is President, Nanyang Technological U., Singapore. Previously, he served as Pres., Carnegie Mellon U. (2013-17), Dir., Natl. Science Foundation of the United States (2010-13), and as dean of engineering (2007-2010) and Vannevar Bush prof. of engineering, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT). He received his bachelor of technology (1977) from Indian Inst. of Technology, Madras; MS (1979) from Iowa State U.; and ScD (1981) from MIT. He is world renowned for his pioneering work on the mechanical properties of engineered and biological materials and for establishing connections between cell mechanics and human diseases. He has authored over 240 research articles, 20 patents and 3 books. A recipient of 11 hon. doctorates, he has been elected to 15 engineering/science academies incl. the US Natl. Acad. of Engineering, Natl. Acad. of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Inventors, and the American Acad. of Arts and Sciences, as well as the French, Chinese and German science academies.