Kusum Marathe obtained her PhD from the Institute of Science, Mumbai, in 1968. Her research interest was algae, metabolic products of algae, nitrogen-fixing algae, and the effects of algae extracts on the germination of seeds and seedling growth. She initiated a special subject, 'Algae' for MSc at Nagpur University. She was the Acting Director of the Institute of Science, Nagpur.

Manju Bansal received her PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1977. She specialized in Molecular Biophysics, and her research topics were Unusual structures of DNA structure of filamentous phages. She was the visiting Professor at Rutgers University, USA and a visiting consultant at NIH, Bethesda, USA. She was the recipient of the INSA medal for Young Scientists in 1979. She is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad.

21-23 June, 2023

At Rome, Italy.