Brito Cruz is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil and the Senior Vice-President Research Networks at Elsevier, UK. He graduated in Electronics Engineering and has a doctorate in Physics. He was a visiting researcher at the Quantum Optics Laboratory at the Universitá di Roma, at the Femtosecond Research Lab. at the Universitè Pierre et Marie Curie, and a resident researcher at the AT&T's Bell Laboratories, in Holmdel, New Jersey. He was the Director of Unicamp's Physics Institute, Pro-rector for Research, and Rector of the university. He was the President of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and its Science Director from 2005-2020. He is a member of the Queen Elizabeth Engineering Prize Judging Panel and of the UN's 10-Member Committee for Technology for Technology Facilitation for the SDGs. Brito Cruz is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, received the Ordre des Palmes Academiques de France, the Order of the Scientific Merit from the Federative Republic of Brazil, and the Order of the British Empire, Honorary (OBE).

Molina was educated in Mexico, Germany and the USA and he obtained his PhD from UC Berkeley (physical chemstry, 1972). He is professor of atmospheric chemistry, dept. of chemistry and biochemistry, University of California, San Diego and president of the Mario Molina Center in Mexico City. His previous positions include: institute professor at MIT; associate professor at UC Irvine; and senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His awards include Tyler Ecology and Energy Award; American Chemical Society Esselen Award; NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement; Nobel Prize in Chemistry; National Medal of Freedom, USA, and the Walker Prize, Boston Museum of Science. His membership includes: National Academy of Sciences, USA; National Academy of Medicine, USA; Academia Mexicana de Ingenieria; Academia Mexicana de Ciencias; Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Sorooshian is dist. prof. and dir., Departments of Civil and Env. Eng. and Earth System Science, U. of California Irvine, USA. He is renowned for contributions to hydrometeorology and development/application of remote sensing for operational hydrology and water resources management. He is a member of the US Natl. Acad. of Eng. (NAE) and Intl. Acad. of Astronautics (IAA) and fellow of the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); American Geophysical Union (AGU); American Meteorological Soc. (AMS); and Int. Water Resources Assoc. (IWRA). He serves on advisory committees, including NASA, NOAA, WMO and UNESCO. Recent honours include: Ven Te Chow Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (2017); Robert E Horton Medalist, American Geophysical Union (AGU) (2013); American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Life Member Award (2013); Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Intl. Prize for Water Resources Management and Protection (2010); Honorary professorship, Beijing Normal University (2010); Walter Orr Roberts Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Sciences Award (AMS) (2009); UNESCO Great Manmade River Water Prize (2007); and NASA Dist. Public Service Medal (2005).

Baralle (PhD 1969, U. of Buenos Aires -UBA) has been director general at Intl. Centre for Genetic Eng. and Biotech. (ICGEB) in Trieste, Italy (2004-14). He now leads the ICGEB RNA Biology Group and is vis. prof. in Buenos Aires. From 1968 to 1974 studied Medicine at UBA and completed his MD in 1984 at the U. of Naples. Previously, he worked at the Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas Fundación Campomar and at the MRC Lab. of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK. From 1980 to 1990, he was university lecturer of pathology at Oxford and fellow of Magdalen College. In 1990 he joined ICGEB. He is an elected member of EMBO and of the Argentine Acad. of Sciences. In 1977 he published the first complete primary structure of an eukaryotic mRNA, βglobin mRNA. His current research focuses on RNA splicing and RNA-protein interactions in neurodegenerative diseases. He has published over 220 papers.

Terrones (Phd Birkbeck College, U. of London) is Rayleigh Endowed Chair Prof. in Physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. in USA. After holding a postdoc position in the dept. of chem., U. of Cambridge (UK), he returned to Mexico to the Inst. of Physics, UNAM, where he spent 8 years as a researcher. He moved to San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to start a new institute with the main idea of working in multidisciplinary research and to decentralize science outside of Mexico City. Main awards include: Mexican Acad. of Sciences Prize in Exact Sciences (2000), UNAM Prize for Young Scientists in Exact Sciences (2000), El Potosi Prize from IPICyT (2004). He is a member of the Mexican Acad. of Sciences. He has been invited prof. in UCL (Belgium), UFC (Brazil), Penn State (USA), Shinshu (Japan) and ORNL (USA). He has contributed to the theory and experiment of 2-D materials, such as graphene and TMDs.

Prance is a Trustee of the Eden Project in Cornwall, and vis. professor at Reading U. He obtained his BA in botany (Oxford, 1960) and DPhil (1963). He began his career with The New York Botanical Garden as a research assistant, becoming senior vice president for science in 1981. He also set up the Garden's Inst. of Economic Botany of which he was the first director from 1981-1988. From 1988 to 1999, he was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He was knighted in 1995, holds hon. doctorates from 15 universities and is a member of several science academies. Honours include: Ordem Nacional do Mérito Cientifico, Grã-Cruz, Brazil, 1995; Internatl. Cosmos Prize, 1995, Order of the Southern Cross, Brazil, 2000; Lifetime Discovery Award, Royal Geographical Society and the Discovery Channel, 1999; Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration, 2000; Order of the Rising Sun, Japan, 2012.

Klein is Carnell Professor of Science and director of the Institute for Computational Molecular Science, at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA. He was Hepburn professor of physical science and director, Lab. for Research on the Structure of Matter, Univ. of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Philadelphia. After his PhD (Univ. of Bristol) and postdoctoral work in Italy, England, and USA, he joined the National Research Council of Canada. In 1987, he joined UPenn where he established the Center for Molecular Modeling. He is member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, a fellow of: Royal Society of London; Royal Society of Canada; and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Awards include: American Physical Society Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics; American Chemical Society Debye Award in Physical Chemistry; and Bernie J. Alder CECAM Prize, European Physical Society.

Dr. Laurencin is the University Professor of the University of Connecticut (the 8th in history). He is the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He did his B.S.E. degree in Chemical Engineering at Princeton, his M.D. from Harvard Medical School (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD from M.I.T.. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering in the U.S.. He is an elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Academy of Sciences. the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and an Academician and Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He has been honored three times by U.S. Presidents. He received the Presidential Faculty Fellow Award from President Bill Clinton and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring from President Barack Obama. He received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the United States' highest honor for technological achievement in ceremonies at the White House.

Lee (PhD 1991, Northwestern U.) is Dist. Prof. and Vice President for Research, Korea Advanced Inst. of Sci. and Tech. (KAIST), Daejeon. He is hon. prof., U. of Queensland, Shanghai JiaTong U., Wuhan U., Beijing U. of Chem. Tech., Chines Acad. Sci., and Chairman of Global Future Council on Biotech., World Econ. Forum. His honours include: Natl. Order of Merit; Natl. Sci. Medal; Ho Am Prize; POSCO TJ Park Prize; Citation Classic Award; Merck Metabolic Engg. Award; Marvin Johnson Award; Highly Cited Researcher. He is Fellow, AAAS; Am. Acad. of Microbiology; Soc. for Industrial Microbiology and Biotech.; Am. Inst. of Chem. Engg.; Am. Inst. of Medical and Biological Engg.; Korean Acad. of Science and Tech.; Natl. Acad. of Engg. of Korea; and International Member, Natl. Acad. of Engg. USA; Natl. Acad. Of Sci. USA. Foreign Member, Royal Society UK. He is editor-in-chief of Metabolic Engg., and editor of many intl. journals. He was Chairman of the Global Agenda Council on Emerging Tech and also Biotech. World Econ. Forum and Founding Chairman of World Councel on Indust. Biotech. He has published more than 710 journal papers and holds more than 800 patents