Richard Layfield is a Reader in Inorganic Chemistry at The University of Manchester, UK. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at the University of Leeds, UK, and his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has received several awards, including an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, and the Royal Society of Chemistry Meldola Medal and the Sir Edward Frankland Fellowship.

Muralee Murugesu is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He studied Chemistry at the University of Paris 7 Jussieu, France. Afterwards he obtained his MSc in Chemistry at the University of East Anglia, UK, and PhD in Chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. His first postdoctoral appointment was at University of Florida with Prof. George Christou, followed by a postdoctoral position working jointly between the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, San Francisco under the supervision of Prof. Jeffrey Long and the Nobel Laureate Prof. Stanley Prusiner.