Li is E. B. Eddy Chair Professor and Canada Research Chair at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He obtained his PhD at McGill University (1992) and was a NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University (1992-94). He was an Assistant (1994), Associate (1998) and Full Professor (2000) at Tulane University (US). Since 2003, he has been at McGill University. He serves as the Director of NSERC CREATE for Green Chemistry and the Co-Director of the FQRNT Center for Green Chemistry and Catalysis. Li received a number of prestigious awards/honors worldwide. These include the US NSF’s CAREER Award, a US Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Award, and the R. U. Lemieux and Alfred Bader Awards of the Canadian Chemical Society, Alexander Humboldt Research Award, and the CIC Medal of Canada. His memberships include the Fellows of the RSC (Canada), RSC (UK), the AAAS, the CIC, and the ACS.

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.

Prof. Rajeev Varshney is an agricultural research scientist specializing in genomics and molecular breeding with 20+ years of service in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. He is serving Murdoch University as a Director, Centre for Crop & Food Innovation; Director, State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre: and International Chair in Agriculture & Food Security with the Food Futures Institute. Prior to joining Murdoch University, Prof Varshney served International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) for about 16 years in various science and leadership roles and Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics & Crops Plant Research, Germany for 5 years as a Research Scientist. Prof. Varshney is a globally recognized leader for his work on genome sequencing, cataloguing and utilizing genetic diversity, genomics-assisted breeding and capacity building in developing countries. He has made centrally important contributions towards improving food and nutrition security in India and several countries in Africa & Asia by assembling genomes, developing genomic resources and integrating genomic technologies in crop improvement programs in many tropical crops.

Agarwal is professor at the Texas A&M U.. He was educated at Banaras Hindu U., India, and the U. of Rochester where he obtained his PhD in 1969. He retired from Oklahoma State U where he held the regents professorship and Noble Foundation chair. His previous positions include dist. scientist and director of the Physical Res. Lab. in Ahmedabad; Indian Natl. Science Acad. Albert Einstein research professor; and professor (1977-95), School of Physics, U. of Hyderabad. His awards include Bhatnagar Award; Max Born Award of the Optical Soc. of America; GD Birla award; RD Birla award; Humboldt Research award, Eminent Faculty award of Oklahoma State U and TWAS Physics Prize. His fellowships include: The Royal Society, UK; 3 science academies of India; American Physical Soc.; Optical Soc. of America. He is also the recipient of honorary doctorates. He is the author of nearly 700 research publications, edited books and monographs. His recent text book "quantum optics" was published by the Cambridge University Press. He is an authority in quantum optics as well in nano photonics and plasmonics.

Dasgupta is Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the Univ. of Cambridge and fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Memberships include: fellow, British Academy and the Royal Society; member, Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences; hon. fellow, London School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge, for. hon. member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; for. assoc., US National Academy of Sciences; and for. member, American Philosophical Society and Royal Swedish Academy of Science. His honours include: Volvo Environment Prize (2002), John Kenneth Galbraith Prize of the American Agricultural Economics Association (2007), Zayed International Prize for the Environment (2011), Blue Planet Prize (2015), and Tyler Prize (2016). He was made Knight Bachelor in 2002, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by, among other universities, University of Bologna in 2012 and Harvard University in 2013.