Jin is Chair Professor and Director of Key Laboratory for Information Science of Electromagnetic Waves (MoE),Fudan University, Shanghai,China. He graduated from Peking University in 1970, and received the M.S., E.E., and Ph.D. degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA in 1982, 1983 and 1985, respectively. All degrees were from Electrical Engineering. He was the Principle Scientist of China State Major Basic Research Projects. Dr. Jin is Academisian of Chinese Academy of Sciences, IAA Fellow, IEEE Life Fellow, EMA Fellow, and Member of IEEE GRSS Major Awards Committee. He was the Chair of IEEE Fellow Evaluation (GRSS), member of IEEE GRSS AdCom, and IEEE GRSS Distinguished Speaker. He received IEEE GRSS Distinguished Achievement Award (2015), IEEE GRSS Education Award (2010), China Science Prizes (2011,1993), the 1-st grade Science Prizes of MOE (1992, 1996, 2009), the 1st grade Guang-Hua Prize (1993) among many others.

GUO Huadong is a Professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, an Academician of CAS, a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, and a Fellow of TWAS. He presently serves as President of the International Society for Digital Earth, Director of the International Center on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the Auspices of UNESCO, Chairman of the International Committee on Remote Sensing of Environment, and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Digital Earth and Big Earth Data. He served as President of ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology. He has over 30 years of experience in Earth observation, specializing in radar remote sensing and Digital Earth science. He has been Principle Investigator for over 30 major national projects in China, and Principle Investigator for 7 international radar remote sensing projects. Prof. Guo has published more than 600 papers and sixteen books, and is the principal awardee of sixteen domestic and international prizes.

Lee is chair professor at the Department of Applied Chemistry and Institute of Molecular Science, director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Science, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, and an adjunct research fellow of the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He obtained his PhD in 1979 at UC Berkeley. He was professor at the Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. His prizes include National Chair Professor from Ministry of Education, APA Award (Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association), Academic Achievement Award from the Ministry of Education, Excellent Research Awards from National Science Council. His memberships include fellow of the American Physical Society and Academician of Academia Sinica.

Zhuang is a research professor at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and professor at the University of CAS. She graduated (PhD 1988) from and served as a postdoctoral fellow (1990) in the Department of Plant Pathology at Cornell University, USA, and jointed the Department of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, CAS, Beijing in 1981. She was elected as a member of CAS in 2009. Her research is focused on the morphological and molecular approaches to systematics and phylogeny of certain groups of Ascomycota, species diversity of fungi from different areas of China, DAN barcoding of selected groups, and natural resources of fungicolous ascomycetes.

Wang is Vice President of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and chair professor of physics and President Emeritus of Peking University, China. He was the Provost and Executive Vice President of Peking University, the director of the Institute of Physics, CAS and the Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics; and executive president of the Graduate University, CAS. He obtained his PhD in 1990 at Peking University. He has served in various international physics committees, professional advisory committees and editorial boards. His awards include: Humboldt Research Award; TWAS Prize in Physics; IBM Faculty Awards; Achievement in Asia Award; Tan Kah Kee Science Award; Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize, CAS; and Distinguished Young Research Awards, Hong Kong. His membership includes: CAS, American Physics Society, and UK Institute of Physics.

Fang is professor and director of the Department of Agricultural Microbiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Microbiology (IOM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was the director of IOM from 2000 to 2004 and elected a member of CAS in 2003. He has made important contributions in plant virology and plant biotechnology. He has characterized the genomes of several plant viruses including cauliflower mosaic virus and rice yellow stunt rhabdovirus. He successfully developed the transgenic tobacco plants resistant to both tobacco mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus, which were planted as early as 1992 at the largest scale in the world at that time. He also analyzed and improved the CaMV 35S promoter which has been widely used in plant biotechnology. More recently, he developed an artificial miRNA approach to control plant virus infection.

Yuthavong (BSc 1966, London; DPhil 1969, Oxford U., UK) is TWAS Vice-President for East and Southeast Asia, 2013-15. Following a career at Mahidol U., he became Director of National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (1985), and the first president of the Natl. Science and Technology Devel. Agency (NSTDA) of Thailand (1992). He is past pres. of the Thai Acad. of Sci. and Techn.; chairman, Foundn. for Promotion of Sci. and Techn.; and elected for. fellow, Australian Acad. of Technol. Scs. and Engg. His honours include: Outstanding Scientist of Thailand Award; ASEAN Science and Technology Meritorious Service Award; Outstanding Govt. Scholar Award; Nikkei Asia Prize for Sci., Techn. and Innovation, Japan; and Person of the Year Award, Natl. Identity Board. He served as Minister of Science and Technology, Thailand, 2006-08 and Deputy Prime Minister, Thailand, 2014-15.