Dr. Alwani Ghazali is attached to the Department of Aqidah and Islamic Thought at the Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya. Her teaching, publication, research and supervision are focused on the issues related to Comparative Religion such as interreligious dialogue, diversity and peaceful co-existence. Previously, she served the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) between 2002-2015 before joining Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in 2016. She graduated for PhD from the University of Melbourne, Australia where she was a recipient of two competitive university awards, Melbourne International Research Scholarship (MIRS) and Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarship (MIFRS) (2009-2012). Her PhD thesis entitled Dialogic Thinking in the Sirah: Its Significance and Application in Contemporary Muslim Discourse was suggested by the external examiner to be nominated as a winner of Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in the PhD Thesis.  In her Bachelor Degree at IIUM, she majored in Usuluddin and Comparative Religion whereas her minor was Psychology. She then pursued Masters Degree in similar institution with the same specialization and graduated with a dissertation on a philosophical topic related to hermeneutics.  Apart from dialogue and interfaith relationship issues, Dr. Alwani is also interested in areas of Islamic Thought in issues such as contemporary framework for research in Islamic Studies and historical hermeneutics. Being an advocate of dialogue and peaceful co-existence, she is a research fellow at Islamic and Strategic Studies Institute (ISSI).

Dr. Goh Boon Tong is a professor in the Department of Physics, Universiti Malaya, where currently serves as the Deputy Dean, Institute for Advanced Studies and the Deputy Head of the Low Dimensional Materials Research Center. He earned his PhD in 2012 with a thesis titled “Layer-by-Layer Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition of Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin Films”. His primary research interests focus on the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials, including one-dimensional structures (nanowires, nanotubes, and nanorods), two-dimensional materials (graphene and metal carbides), and metallic nanoparticles. Dr. Goh has obtained numerous prestigious awards, both locally and internationally. These include the MASS 2001 Awards (Best Thesis Awards for Final Year Project of Undergraduate Science) from MASS Malaysia, the Excellence Award 2012 (for PhD candidates with the highest impact publications in the sciences) from the Universiti Malaya, the Newton Advanced Fellowship 2016, the Outstanding Researcher in Materials under the Science Discipline Award from the Venus International Foundation, the 2020 Top Research Scientists Malaysia (TRSM) Award from the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, as well as several conference awards. He has secured many local and international research grants and holds 6 filed patents. Dr. Goh also has been appointed to various academic and professional roles, including adjunct professor, visiting professor, visiting scientist, session chair at international conferences, editorial members and associate editors of journals, PhD thesis examiners by universities worldwide. To date, he has published over 235 peer-reviewed papers, with a total of nearly 3, 400 citations (h-index = 30) according to Google Scholar, and more than 156 refereed papers with nearly 2, 600 citations (h-index = 26) according to Publons Web of Science.

Dr. Hemza Azri is currently a senior lecturer at the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malay. He gained his PhD in Physics from Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey, in 2018. His research interests lie broadly in gravitational physics, with a focus on the theoretical and experimental aspects of General Relativity (GR) and alternative theories of gravity. In parallel, he is interested in the interplay between cosmology and particle physics, exploring how physics at high energies or small scales shape what we observe in cosmology. A significant part of his work involves formulating and analyzing alternative theories of gravity and studying their physical predictions. This includes models for the early universe—most notably inflation, the rapid expansion phase believed to have occurred shortly after the Big Bang. By examining how these alternative frameworks modify or extend standard cosmology, his research aims to identify observational signatures that could test or constrain departures from GR. In parallel, his work covers topics related to strong-field gravitational phenomena, namely the physics of black holes and neutron stars, with the broader goal of assessing the validity and limits of GR. Through this combination of theoretical development and phenomenological analysis, his research contributes to the ongoing effort to understand gravity across cosmological, astrophysical, and particle-physics scales. Over the course of his academic career, he has visited leading research institutions, including the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy; Nordita in Stockholm, Sweden; and the Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) in Madrid, Spain. He has also contributed as a theorist to the UAE–ATLAS (CERN) collaboration. Alongside his research activities, he has developed a strong profile as a teacher of physics. In his lectures, he places particular emphasis on clarity and logical structure, using well-chosen examples to guide students through challenging material and to encourage genuine understanding rather than rote learning. His commitment to effective communication also extends beyond the classroom: he is capable of presenting advanced physical ideas in a way that is accessible to non-specialists. By presenting complex ideas in clear and accessible language, he helps a wider audience understand and appreciate physics and engage with science.