Professor Spyridon Ntougias studied chemistry (Univ. Athens, Greece) and received his Ph.D. in 1999 from the Department of Biological Sciences, Wye College, University of London, UK. He worked as scientific staff at National Agricultural Research Foundation of Greece (NAGREF) and became academic staff in 2009 at the Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH). He has 25-year research experience on environmental microbiology, bioengineering, biomass valorization, wastewater treatment and water reuse technologies. He has been involved in several international and national research projects (in many of them as Coordinator/Principal Investigator), including EU-(co)funded (PRIMA/H2020, H2020, Interreg, EDIHs) and IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)-funded projects as well as projects funded by regional authorities and the private sector. He has more than 90 research publications in international scientific journals (Hindex: 31, Citations: 3029), 4 chapter books, 1 patent and more than 100 participations in international and national conferences. He described three novel bacterial genera and species, i.e. Alkalibacterium olivapovliticus gen. nov. sp. nov., Olivibacter sitiensis gen. nov. sp. nov. and Halotalea alkalilenta gen. nov. sp. nov. and emended the family Halomonadaceae. He has participated in the editions of “Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology”, describing the genera Alkalibacterium and Halotalea. He was member of the Board of Directors of the Greek Microbiological Society “Mikrobiokosmos” (member of FEMS) for the years 2015-2019. He is Chief Editor of “Frontiers in Sustainability” – section “Nature-Based Solutions”, and Associate Editor of “Frontiers in Microbiology” – section “Systems Microbiology”, “Annals of Microbiology” and “Water”.

Dr. Amal Maurady is a professor at the departement of Life Science of the faculty of Science and Technics of tangier and menber of the laboratory of innovative technology of the university of Abdelmalek Essaadi

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Francisco Arenas is the team leader of Benthic Ecology and Environmental Solutions group at CIIMAR-UP. His work involves experimental ecology and modeling tools to understand and predict the effects of global changes on coastal populations and ecosystems, from both structural and functional perspectives. More details can be found at https://www.ciimar.up.pt/members/francisco-arenas/

Professor George Tsiamis holds a position in Environmental Microbiology at the Department of Sustainable Agriculture of the University of Patras. He attained his MSc in Plant Protection from the University of Reading, UK, and his PhD in Molecular Microbiology from the University of London, UK. His research focuses on: (a) the microbial diversity in extreme environments through -omic technologies and single cell genomics, (b) accessing the metabolic diversity of microorganisms through genome sequencing, (c) designing and developing new tools for the study of bacterial diversity, and (d) host-microbe interactions with an emphasis on symbiotic associations through genetic, molecular, cellular, biochemical and genomic approaches.

 His main research activities focus on several aspects of Microbial Biotechnology; this includes i) biotechnological applications of microbial active molecules such as biopolymers, biosurfactants and extremozymes with valuable applications in bioremediation and health, and ii) microbial electrochemical systems with potential energy coupled to wastewater treatment. Dr. Chouchane has published more than 50 peer reviewed papers.

Dr. Hanene Cherif is the scientific advisor at the African Biology Company (ABC). She has a PhD in biology with specialization in microbiology. Her professional exprience focusing on microbial ressources managment and non conventional water use for sustainble agriculture. She is experienced in designing and implementing field monitoring trials. She has been actively involved as scientific researcher in a significant number of projects that explore innovative solutions for enhancing soil fertility, improving crop resilience, and utilizing non-conventional water resources.

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Marina Dolbeth is an Assistant Researcher at CIIMAR-UP. Her work focuses on the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems under natural, anthropogenic and climatic changes. She has worked with benthic communities to understand the consequences of changing diversity on the functioning of coastal ecosystems and how this information can inform environmental management decisions. Currently, she works with habitat-forming species as nature-based solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as Ocean literacy initiatives. More details can be found at www.ciimar.up.pt/members/marina-dolbeth/

Pr Mohammed Reda Britel is reseracher in the Laboratory of Innovative technology of the National School of Tangier, University of Abdelmalek Esaadi

Mouna MAHJOUBI is a postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Bio-Geo Resources Valorization (LR11ES31), Higher Institute for Biotechnology, University of Manouba, Tunisia. She obtained her PhD in Biotechnological Sciences from the Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte (FSB), University of Carthage, Tunisia, in 2018. Her current research activities focus on several aspects of Molecular Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology, particularly i) the characterization of microbial community dynamics and the bioremediation potential of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria in marine polluted ecosystems through genomic and analytical analysis and ii) the ecology of extremophilic microorganisms. Dr. Mahjoubi has published 30 peer reviewed papers with an h-index of 15.

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Olfa Bousselmi, graduated with Master’s degree in Biotechnology and Industrial development of health products from the Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Sidi Thabet (Tunisia). Olfa holds several certificates in entrepreneurship and project management and is co-inventor of two patents. Since 8 years Olfa has been project manager and member of the research laboratory « Biotechnology Research and Valorization of Bio-Geo Resources », at the Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Sidi Thabet – University of Manouba (UMA). Since entering the professional world, she has been interested in promoting the results of its research, particularly in terms of extracting active biomolecules from food waste, microalgae and other natural materials. This has earned him several national awards in the field of entrepreneurship.

Che microbial diversity in various environments/hosts using –omic technologies, bioprospecting for novel microbial industrial enzymes from extreme environments, and research on hydrolytic enzymes (production, purification, biochemical characterization and biotechnological applications).

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For Rim DRIOUICH CHAOUACHI, laureate of Japanese Monbusho scholarship 1999, life’s challenges have been surmounted through a combination of her passion for scientific research, solving problems, and resourcefulness, along with leadership focused on working with teams to achieve goals.
Beginning her carrier as an analytical chemistry engineer, Rim’s carrier has advanced from her initial role as quality assurance and pharmaceutical products control to culminate a series of expert roles for developing processes, standards guidelines and green transformation. Thereafter, she started her carrier as a scientific researcher and she moved to Japan where she obtained her Ph.D degree at Okayama University on 2003. She was also awarded the Research Fund, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University (2002).
She is actually an Associate Professor and co-founder of the research laboratory of Biotechnology & Valorization of Bio-Geo Ressources (LR11ES31)-Higher Institute of Biotechnology of SidiThabet (ISBST- University of Manouba). She has been teaching chemistry at ISBST since 2004. Since that time, through a series of executive roles, such as executive scientific board, chair of the Quality Commission and Head of the Studies and the Internships Office, Rim has been the helm of visionary strategies, acquisitions, integrations pivotal initiatives in ISBST, as well as the development of its various specific curricula programmes.
She is actually elected Director of the Higher Institute of Biotechnology of SidiThabet since 2020, where she is making significant contribution to the Institute’s outreach, fundraising for collaborative projects and ranking. She has published in prestigious conferences and leading journals such as Elsevier, Wiley and Spinger as well as patent registration. In 2016, she and her research team were awarded the GIST-Net/VENTUREWELL ‘Global Innovation through Science and Technology’ prize for their project on the extraction of biomolecules and recovery of agri-food waste. Its research focuses on the development of new molecular entities with biological and/or therapeutic activities based on structure-activity relationships.

PhD student and Laboratory assistant in M3R. She has experience in microbiological and molecular analyses and laboratory-scale tests. Education: Master degree in Industrial Sciences and Technologies for Environment and Landscape

The multifaceted cultural shaping of Stergios’s personality, stemming from his education -during his school years- at the German School of Thessaloniki, his internship in the Municipality of Leipzig’s (Germany) legal department, his undergraduate studies in the field of «Political Science», and his professional identification -through Non-Governmental Organizations- in submitting proposals and implementing European-scale programs, combined with his insatiable interest in current developments and his current engagement with International Relations and with international affairs, due to his participation in the postgraduate program of the University of Macedonia titled «International Studies, European Studies and Diplomacy», all contributed to his professional evolution.
Stergios has financially overseen and managed more than 50 European co-funded projects-exceeding the amount of €15.000.000, successfully implementing a wide range of deliverables. He has actively participated in over 35 transnational project meetings and has delivered speeches and lectures at numerous workshops, seminars, symposiums, podcasts and conferences, both in situ and online. Drawing on his extensive experience in public relations, Stergios has effectively coordinated collaborative efforts among project partners.
His tenure with Thessaloniki’s State Symphony Orchestra has equipped him with a diverse skill set, particularly in gaining a deep understanding of the workings of the public sector.
This experience has further refined his ability to navigate complex organizational structures, making him adept at managing relationships, people, teams, and organisations.

Chief Executive Officier of M3R, she has more than 15 years of experience in the bioremediation of recalcitrant pollutants and in the development of innovative biomolecular tools for the study of microbial communitiy in the environment and the biodegradation processes. Education: PhD in Environmental Sciences and Master degree in Applied Biocatalysis

Yosra is a PhD student at the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Valorization of Bio-GeoRessouces (LBVBGR-LR11-ES31). Her main esearch interests include: The study of osmoadaption and homeostasis mechanisms in polyextremophilic Haloalkaliphilic bacteria, gene expression studies, metabolites extraction and analysis, and the detection of enteric viruses and Covid-19 in WasteWater systems.

Anastasios J. Tasiopoulos is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Cyprus. He completed both his BSc (1995) and PhD (1999) degrees at the University of Ioannina (Greece), the latter under the supervision of Professor Themistoklis A. Kabanos. After postdoctoral work with Professor George Christou at the University of Florida, he was appointed Lecturer at the University of Cyprus in 2004. His research is focused on the synthesis and study of functional metal – organic materials with interesting properties and potential applications in various areas such as magnetism, sensing, gas storage and separation, wastewater treatment, soil fertilization and catalysis.

Eleni Hadjikyprianou is a PhD student in the group of Professor Tasiopoulos at the University of Cyprus (Chemistry Department). She completed her BSc in Chemistry and MSc at the same institution, the latter under the supervision of Prof Tasiopoulos. Her research interests include the synthesis, characterization and study of new microporous MOFs with applications in various fields including wastewater treatment, soil fertilization, gas storage and separation and catalysis.