Chas is Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Oxford; Professor of Translational Medicine, and Head of Impact and Innovation in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine; Director, Oxford University Innovations; Professorial Fellow at Keble College, Oxford. Prior to coming back to Oxford in 2008, Chas was Vice President and Head of Biology at GlaxoSmithKline. Chas is an invited expert on several government and charitable research funding bodies, and an advisor for many academic, biotech and pharma drug discovery programmes. In 2012 he was voted one of the “top innovators in the industry”, in 2014 received the “Rita and John Cornforth Award” from the Royal Society of Chemistry, in 2017 and 2018 was voted “Master of the Bench” from the Medicine Maker Power List, and in 2018 was awarded the “Order of the British Empire” in the New Year’s Honours List.

Professor Chan assumed his role as the third president of KAUST in September 2018. He has led growing the faculty and students by close to 50%. He has expanded KAUST’s research emphasis from energy, water, food and environment to include digital and health, launching new initiatives in Artificial Intelligence and Smart Health. He is increasing investment and capacity in innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer to fulfill the second mission of the University. By positioning the University to leverage KSA’s ambitious Vision 2030 strategic plan, he is strengthening its engagement with the Nation. Finally, he is leading efforts to enhance the global and national visibility of KAUST.

He is on the Board of Trustees/Directors of Hong Kong Academy of Science; IPAM, UCLA; KACST, Future Investment Initiative (FII Institute), Saudi Arabia; King Saud University, Saudi Arabia; Skolkovo, Russia and Yidan Prize Foundation, HongKong. He is also on the Advisory Board/Committee of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, China; KFUPM, Saudi Arabia; KAIST, Korea; KAPSARC, Saudi Arabia, NEOM, Saudi Arabia; Saudi Data and AI (SDAIA) Supervisory National Strategy Committee of Data and AI, Saudi Arabia, SDAIA National Center for Artificial Intelligence, Saudi Arabia, RIKEN, Japan; SUSTech, China.

He received his BS and MS degrees in Engineering from Caltech and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford. He is a member of US National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of IEEE, AAAS and SIAM. He was awarded the 2020 SIAM Prize for Distinguished Service to the Profession. He has received Honorary Doctorates from University of Strathclyde and University of Waterloo.

Professor Cheng May Hung May is currently Vice President (Academic) and Chair Professor of Teacher Education of The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK).

Professor Cheng began her teacher education work at the Sir Robert Black College of Education in 1990. As a long-serving member of EdUHK and the former Hong Kong Institute of Education, she has taken up academic leadership positions at different stages, such as Associate Vice President (Academic Affairs), Registrar, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Associate Dean (Programmes), and Programme Director. Between 2010 and the end of 2011, Professor Cheng was a Reader in Professional Education in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of the Governing Body at Kellogg College.

Professor Cheng graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a BSc (First-class Honours) degree, a Certificate in Education (Distinction) and a Master’s in Education. She obtained a PhD at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She served as President of the East Asian Association for Science Education (EASE) from 2016 to 2019. Professor Cheng has actively participated in and made contributions to the international teacher education and science education arena.

Professor Cheng has actively participated in education services in Hong Kong. She was appointed a registered auditor of the Quality Audit Committee under the University Grants Committee (UGC), a specialist and member for institutional review by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, a member of the Council of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) and to the Curriculum Development Council. She has also served on various subject committees at the HKEAA, the Curriculum Development Committee of the Curriculum Development Institute, and the Education Committee at the Maritime Museum. Professor Cheng is also currently a member of the Council of EdUHK.

Professor Gong Qihuang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is an optics expert who has long been engaged in cutting-edge research on nonlinear optics and spatiotemporal small-scale optics. He has made systematic innovative contributions from the aspects of material properties, new effects and applications. He has received awards such as the Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award, the First Prize of the Beijing Science and Technology Award, the First Prize of the Ministry of Education Science and Technology Progress Award, and the Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress Award of the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation. His research results have been selected three times as being among the “Top 10 Scientific and Technological Advances in Chinese Universities”.

Professor Gong was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013 and a member of the World Academy of Sciences in 2018. He was elected as a fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK (2007), Optical Society of America (2010), and International Society for Optics and Photonics (2018).

Professor Gong has worked in administrative positions for many years, gaining rich theoretical knowledge and practical experience in higher education administration. Since June 2022, he has served as the President of Peking University and the Dean of the Graduate School of Peking University. In October 2022, he was elected as an alternate member of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Professor Gong currently serves as the vice-chairman of the International Commission for Optics (ICO), a standing committee member of the China Association for Science and Technology, and the vice-chairman of the Beijing Association for Science and Technology.

Professor Ip is currently the President, The Morningside Professor of Life Science, and the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). She received her PhD degree in Pharmacology from Harvard University, after which she held the position of Senior Staff Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in New York. Since joining HKUST in 1993, she has served as the Vice-President for Research and Development, Dean of Science, Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute, and Head of the Department of Biochemistry.

Professor Ip is world-renowned for her significant contributions to the field of neuroscience. Her outstanding research has resulted in 328 scientific papers and 70 patents. The excellence of her work has been recognized through numerous prestigious awards and honors including the L’OREAL-UNESCO for Women in Science Award, the National Natural Science Awards, 10 Science Stars of China by Nature, and Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite (National Order of Merit) by the French Government. As a further testament to her distinguished achievements, Ip has been elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Sciences, the World Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Li Jin is Chair Professor of Finance, Vice President (Global Strategies), Acting Dean of the School of Business and Director of the SUSTech Academy of Finance and Economics at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), located in Shenzhen, China. Additionally, he serves as Deputy Chairperson of the SUSTech Education Foundation and Director of the UNESCO International Centre for Higher Education Innovation.

Prof. Jin has previously held positions as Associate Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School; Professor of Finance at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School; Associate Head of the Division of Economics and Management, Associate Dean of Guanghua School of Management and head of Guanghua’s Finance Department, and Director of the National Center for Financial Research at Peking University.

Prof. Jin is a member of the Global Corporate Governance Colloquia (GCGC); Vice Chairman of the Chinese Management Science Society and Director of its Committee for Financial Management; Director of the Private Equity Committee at the Chinese Academy of Management; and Director of the Pension Trust Committee at the China Trustee Association.

Since 2018, Prof. Jin has served as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a member of its Economics Committee. He is also a member of the Standing Committee of China’s Jiusan Society’s Central Committee. He had been or is currently an independent director of several leading enterprises including Ping An Group, SF Express, Haire Venture Capital, Guo Securities, Oriza Holdings and Beijing Financial Holdings Group.

Prof. Jin obtained his Ph.D. in Finance from MIT’s Sloan School of Management in 2001. His research interests include investment and financing, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, hedge funds, wealth management, family business governance and succession and capital operations. Professor Jin has received several prestigious awards, including the FAME Research Prize, the PanAgora Quantitative Research Award, the Chinese Management Science Award, the Best Paper Award of the Financial Management Association (European Conference), the Global Financial Association’s Best Paper Award and the TCFA Best Paper Award.

Prof. Chun-Sing Lee obtained his BSc and PhD degrees from the University of Hong Kong in 1987 and 1991, respectively. He embarked on his research career at the University of Birmingham in the UK, with the support of the Croucher Foundation Fellowship. Prof. Lee joined the City University of Hong Kong in 1994 and is currently a Chair Professor of Materials Chemistry and the Provost and Deputy President of the University. He also co-founded the Center Of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF) in 1998 and served as the Center’s Deputy Director/Director till 2022.

Prof. Lee’s current research interests lie in the area of organic electronic devices and nanomaterials for energy, environmental and biomedical applications. He is among the Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers 2023, and won the First Class Prizes of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Prize 2021 as well as the Jiangsu Province Science and Technology Award 2018.

Sayasat Nurbek serves as the Minister of Science and Higher Education in Kazakhstan. As one of the earliest certified experts in Foresight and Future Studies in the region, he has demonstrated unparalleled expertise in managing large-scale education programs. Before his tenure as Minister, Mr. Nurbek played a pivotal role in establishing the Ecole 42 partner school, the first National Public Policy School, and initiatives such as the National Skills Foresight and the Atlas of new jobs and skills. These initiatives have significantly shaped the educational landscape, underscoring Mr. Nurbek’s commitment to driving innovation and progress in education policy and practice. Apart from the education sphere, Mr. Nurbek has diverse professional experiences, from serving as an assistant to Congressman Mark Smith in the USA to assuming leadership roles in investment projects and public policy divisions in Kazakhstan.

Mr. Nurbek’s professional trajectory has been enriched by degrees from prestigious institutions such as Marshalltown College, Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Notre Dame University, University La Sapienza, and Kokshe Academy, reflecting his commitment to lifelong learning and intellectual inquiry. His academic journey also includes internships and training courses in public policy, and HR management across multiple countries, including the USA, Singapore, Belgium, Japan, and the Netherlands.

Fluent in Kazakh, Russian, English, Turkish, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Latin, Mr. Nurbek’s linguistic abilities underscore his cross-cultural communication skills, enabling him to engage with diverse audiences on a meaningful level. A prolific public figure, speaker, and educator, Mr. Nurbek has delivered over 1,000 public lectures and talks, reaching an audience of over 100,000 individuals through various social media platforms. As he continues to shape the future of education and human development in Kazakhstan and beyond, Mr. Nurbek remains a visionary leader dedicated to advancing knowledge, fostering creativity, and empowering individuals to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Professor S. Joe Qin is currently the President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science of Lingnan University in Hong Kong. In his prior career, he worked as the Chair Professor and Inaugural Dean of the School of Data Science at City University of Hong Kong, the Fluor Professor at the Viterbi School of Engineering of the University of Southern California, Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Principal Engineer at Emerson Process Management.

Prof. Qin is a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors, the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), AIChE, and IEEE. He is the recipient of the 2022 CAST Computing in Chemical Engineering Award by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the 2022 IEEE CSS Transition to Practice Award, the U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the 2011 Northrop Grumman Best Teaching award at Viterbi School of Engineering, and the IFAC Best Paper Prize for a model predictive control paper published in Control Engineering Practice.

Prof. Qin has published over 470 international journal papers, book chapters, conference papers etc. He is the inventor of 12 U.S. patents. He received over 39,000 Google Scholar citations with an h-index of 87.

Professor Max Shen became the Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2021 in concurrence with his appointment as Chair Professor jointly in the Faculty of Engineering (Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering) and the Faculty of Business and Economics. He is also the Dean of Graduate School.

Professor Shen obtained his PhD from Northwestern University in 2000. That same year, he began his academic career as Assistant Professor at the University of Florida, and joined the University of California, Berkeley in 2004, where he rose through the ranks to become Chancellor’s Professor and Chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research and Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He was also a Center Director at the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute and Honorary Professor at Tsinghua University. Professor Shen joined HKU in 2021.

Internationally recognized as a top scholar in his field, Professor Shen is a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), a Fellow and past President of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, and a past President of the Society of Locational Analysis of INFORMS.

Professor Yonghua Song is the Rector (President) of the University of Macau and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City. He has held a number of leadership positions and served as professor in electrical engineering at British and Chinese universities, including Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Brunel University and Pro-Vice Chancellor of University of Liverpool, Assistant President of Tsinghua University and Executive Vice President of Zhejiang University. Professor Song is currently the Vice President of China Association of Higher Education (CAHE), Vice President of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy (CSEDS), Vice President of the Chinese Educators’ Association of Macau and Vice President of Chinese Electrotechnical Society (CES).  

Professor Song has long been engaged in electrical power system research. In recent years, he focuses on renewable energy technologies and sustainable development in particular. He was awarded Honorary DSc by Brunel University in 2002, Honorary DEng by University of Bath in 2014 and Honorary DSc by University of Edinburgh in 2019. In 2020, he won a second prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award and the prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation. In 2022, he was awarded the Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Prize. Professor Song was elected a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) in 2004, IEEE fellow in 2007 and a member of Academia Europaea in 2019. Professor Song has been appointed as Advisor of Science and Technology Committee of the Macao SAR Government since 2002. He actively participates in the affairs of international academic organizations and currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations University Institute in Macau (UNU Macau). In 2023, he was awarded the Medal of Merit – Education by the Macao Special Administrative Region Government.

Professor Dong Sun was appointed Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry on 1 July 2022. 

Professor Sun is a world-renowned scholar and scientist. He is a pioneer in robotic manipulation of biological cells and robot control. His research has led to breakthroughs in the use of robotics combined with various micro-engineering tools. He has also received numerous awards. 

Professor Sun was elected as Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering, Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, and Fellow of IEEE.

Prior to his appointment, Professor Sun was the Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong, and the Legislative Council Member (Election Committee).

Mr Jeff Sze has been the Under Secretary for Education of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China since July 2022. He supports the Secretary for Education of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the administration of all education affairs in Hong Kong. Before taking up the position of Under Secretary for Education, he had been the Political Assistant to the Secretary for Education for 10 years. He has deep understanding of the Hong Kong’s education system. Prior to joining the government, he served as a secondary school teacher and conducted policy research in a think tank.

Mr Sze holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and a Master of Science degree in Statistics from Stanford University. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, majoring in Economics, from the University of Hong Kong.

Prof Tan Eng Chye was appointed President of the National University of Singapore (NUS) in January 2018. He is the University’s 5th president, and the 23rd leader to head Singapore’s oldest higher education institution.

Prof Tan’s research interests are in the Representation Theory of Lie Groups and Lie Algebras; and Invariant Theory and Algebraic Combinatorics. He has been invited to speak in numerous top conferences overseas, and has published more than 20 articles in top internationally-refereed journals and conference proceedings. He has co-authored three books on mathematics, including a well-known graduate text on non-Abelian harmonic analysis.

Prof Tan is a passionate and award-winning educator. He was a pioneer architect of the current academic system in NUS, and has seeded many initiatives such as the Special Programme in Science, University Scholars Programme, University Town Residential College Programme, Grade-free Year, and Technology-enhanced Education.

Prof Tan received the Public Administration Medal (Gold) at Singapore’s National Day Awards in 2014 for his outstanding contributions to education. He was awarded the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal, which honours exceptional alumni in the areas of scholarship, teaching, academic administration and public service, by Yale University in 2018. Prof Tan was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Southampton in 2018 in recognition of his achievements as “an innovative and exceptional teacher, and then as a distinguished and respected leader in academia”; and an Honorary Doctor of Management from Universiti Malaya in 2023 for his contributions to the university’s journey towards academic and intellectual excellence.

In 2022, Prof Tan was conferred the title of Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honour (Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur) – the highest French distinction for military and civil accomplishments – for his distinguished contributions in education and research.  

Professor Jin-Guang Teng assumed office as President of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 1 July 2019. Prior to his current appointment, Professor Teng was Vice-President and Dean of Graduate School of the Southern University of Science and Technology.

Professor Teng was born in Wenzhou, China. He received his BEng Degree from Zhejiang University in 1983. He pursued further study at the University of Sydney, Australia, and obtained his PhD degree in 1990. He spent about two years as a visiting PhD student and then researcher at The University of Edinburgh, the United Kingdom, from 1989 to 1991. From 1991 to 1994, he served as a Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer at the then James Cook University of North Queensland, Australia. He joined the then Hong Kong Polytechnic as a Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering in October 1994 and rose through the ranks to become Chair Professor in January 2005. He has served in various academic leadership roles at PolyU over the years, including as Associate Dean of Faculty of Construction and Land Use (2005 – 2006), Associate Vice President (2006 – 2010), Dean of Faculty of Construction and Land Use/Faculty of Construction and Environment (2007 – 2013), and Director of Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (2012 – 2018).

A well-accomplished and distinguished scholar in the field of structural engineering, Professor Teng has authored one book and over 200 SCI journal papers. His publications have been widely cited by researchers globally, and many of his research findings have been adopted in relevant design codes/guidelines in China, Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

Professor Teng’s outstanding academic achievements have earned him numerous accolades, both locally and overseas. He was elected in 2017 as a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is the highest academic title in the field of science and technology in China. He was also elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2015, and a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences in 2013. He won the State Natural Science Award of China (Second Class) in 2013 and the Distinguished Young Scholar Award from the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2004. At PolyU, Professor Teng was the recipient of The President’s Award for Excellent Performance/Achievement 2013/2014 in the category of Research and Scholarly Activities. 

In addition, Professor Teng plays a significant role in promoting innovation and technology in Hong Kong and beyond. He is currently serving as the President of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences and as a Member of the Committee on Innovation, Technology and Industry Development of the Hong Kong SAR Government. He was also appointed as a Non-official Justice of the Peace in 2021 and a Member of the 14th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 2023. 

Professor Rocky S. Tuan began his term as the eighth Vice-Chancellor and President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) on 1 January 2018. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he pursued further studies in the United States and received his PhD in Life Sciences in 1977 from the Rockefeller University in New York.

Professor Tuan is an internationally renowned biomedical scientist specializing in musculoskeletal biology and tissue regeneration, whose work covers both basic science and engineering, as well as translational and clinical applications. Prior to joining CUHK in 2016 as a distinguished visiting professor and the founding director of the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, he was distinguished professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering in the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Professor Tuan was elected to the fellowships of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the Chinese Association of Inventions (CAI) and the American Association for Anatomy (AAA) respectively. In 2021, Professor Tuan was also elected to be the fellowships of the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), for his accomplishments in innovation and translational research that bring significant impact on society.

Professor Wai is the President and Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). Prior to joining HKBU, Professor Wai was the Deputy President and Provost at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Over the years, he has spared no effort in education, academia and research. He is committed to pioneering innovation and technology and translational research as well as making contributions to the development of Hong Kong, the Nation and the world.

Professor Wai received a bachelor’s degree, majoring in Physics, from The University of Hong Kong in 1981, followed by a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in Physics from the University of Maryland, College Park in the US in 1985 and 1988 respectively. With academic interests in the field of optical fibre communications, Professor Wai has a rich array of impactful and patented research achievements to his name. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and a Fellow of Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences (HKAES). With the approval of the State Ministry of Science and Technology, he is also listed as one of the experts in the National Science and Technology Programme Expert Database.

YUKIO YUZAWA, M.D., Ph.D. has been president of Fujita Health University (FHU) since 2021. He received his PhD in nephrology from Nagoya University School of Medicine in 1987 and was then appointed as a visiting associate professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo (1987–2002).

In 2010, he took on the role of professor at the Department of Nephrology of FHU and became actively involved in the executive functions of the university, serving as director of a hospital (2014–2021), general director of FHU Hospitals Group and chairman of the Association of Japan Medical Colleges (2021–2022).

Prof. Yuzawa has over 220 peer-reviewed publications, 3 patents, and has presented his work at numerous international scientific conferences. Prof. Yuzawa is also the director of Japan Metaverse Promotion Council and Funding Development Committee of the International IgAN Network Research Group.