Former President, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

A renowned chemist and pioneer of nanoscience, Professor Chunli Bai was President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Professor Bai’s rigorous research in scanning tunnelling microscopy leads to the breakthrough of the first laser atomic force microscopy in China and is instrumental to numerous nanotechnological advancements.

His research achievements have been honored by numerous accolades, including the TWAS Medal Lecture in Chemistry, the TWAS-Abdus Salam Medal and the UNESCO Medal of “Contributions to Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology”. Additionally, Professor Bai’s standing as a scientist has been recognized internationally as a member or foreign member of academies such as the National Academy of Sciences of the US, and the Royal Society and Royal Society of Chemistry of the UK.

Prof. Dr. Sukit Limpijumnong is the President of Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA). A recipient of the prestigious DPST scholarship since high school, he earned his Ph.D. in Physics (specializing in computational materials) from Case Western Reserve University, USA, and completed postdoctoral research at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in Silicon Valley.

He joined Suranaree University of Technology in 2001 and became a full professor at the age of 34—an early career milestone. He went on to serve eight years as Vice Rector and nine years as Director of the Thai Theoretical and Computational Physics (ThEP) Center, advancing frontier research on computational materials, particularly metal oxides and nanostructures. He has also held visiting professorships at world-renowned laboratories such as NREL and ORNL.

Prof. Limpijumnong has published over 100 ISI-indexed papers with an H-index of 36 and more than 5,700 citations. His research excellence has been recognized with honors including the TWAS Prize for Young Scientists (2004) and the National Outstanding Researcher Award (2011).

From 2018 to 2022, he served as President of IPST, where he spearheaded initiatives such as nationwide K–12 coding curricula, “Project 14” (digital textbooks during COVID-19), and the Thai KOSEN Project introducing Japanese-style technical colleges. In 2022, he assumed the presidency of NSTDA, where he continues to lead Thailand’s science and technology development at the national level.