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Donal Bradley studied physics as an undergraduate, receiving BSc and ARCS degrees from Imperial College in 1983, and completed his PhD in 1987 at the University of Cambridge on controlling the microstructure and photophysical properties of poly(p-phenylenevinylene) thin films. He also holds honorary DSc degrees from the University of Sheffield (2014) and Hong Kong Baptist University (2017). After completing his PhD, Donal held a Toshiba Research Fellowship at the Toshiba R&D Center in Kawasaki, Japan (1987-88), and a Leverhulme Research Fellowship in Chemical Physics at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (1987-89). His first faculty position was at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge (Assistant Lecturer, 1989-93), and he subsequently worked at the University of Sheffield (1993-2000; Reader then Professor of Physics), Imperial College London (2000-15; Professor of Solid State Physics, Lee-Lucas Professor of Experimental Physics, Head of the Department of Physics, Director of the Center for Plastic Electronics, Vice-Rector for Research), the University of Oxford (2015-19, Professor of Engineering Science and Physics; Professorial Fellow at Jesus College; Head of the Division of Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences), and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (2019-22, Distinguished Professor of Materials Physics and Device Engineering; Vice-President for Research), before moving to his current roles at NEOM, where he is Executive Director of the Education, Research, and Innovation Foundation and Vice-President for Research and Innovation at NEOM University. Donal’s research has focused on molecular electronic materials and devices and soluble semiconductors, with an interest in materials and devices for electronics, optoelectronics, and photonics. He is a pioneer in the field, contributing to many scientific advances and innovations, and his work has been recognized by multiple awards and prizes, including the E-MRS Jan Czochralski Gold Medal (2019), Jiangsu Province Governor’s Award for International Cooperation (2016), Founders’ Prize of the IOP Polymer Physics Group (2013), IET Faraday Medal (2010), Royal Society Bakerian Lecture (2010), IOP Faraday Gold Medal (2009), Royal Society Brian Mercer Award (2006), SID Jan Rajchman Prize (2005), ESF European Latsis Prize (2005), EU Descartes Prize (2003), Daiwa Award for Anglo-Japanese Collaboration (1994) and RSA Silver Medal (1983). He is a fellow of the Royal Society (FRS, 2004), US National Academy of Inventors (FNAI, 2020), Institute of Physics (FInstP, 2005), Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET, 2013), and Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (FRSA, 1987), an honorary fellow of Churchill College Cambridge (2018), and a chartered engineer (CEng, 2015). Donal was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2010 by HM Queen Elizabeth II for services to science.

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Yury Gogotsi is a Distinguished University Professor and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Endowed Chair in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University (Philadelphia, USA). He is the founding Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. He received his MS (1984) and PhD (1986) from Kyiv Polytechnic and a DSc degree from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1995. Together with his students and colleagues, he made principal contributions to the development of materials for electrochemical capacitors and other energy storage devices, discovered MXenes, demonstrated the tuning of structure and porosity of carbide-derived carbons, and developed new processes for the synthesis, surface modification, and purification of nanotubes and nanodiamonds. He also published the first microscopic observation of water inside carbon nanotubes, discovered polygonal nanotubes (graphite polyhedral crystals), and shaped the field of high-pressure surface science. He is recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in Materials Science and Chemistry and a Citations Laureate in Physics by Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science). He has received numerous awards for his research, including the Ceramic Prize from the World Academy of Ceramics, the MRS Medal, the Jan Czochralski Award from the European MRS, the European Carbon Association Award, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in the Chemistry of Materials, etc. He has been elected a Fellow of MRS, the National Academy of Inventors, World Academy of Ceramics, European Academy of Sciences, Academia Europaea, and other professional societies. He holds honorary doctorates from several European Universities.