Dr. Eng. Salah Jellali currently holds the position of senior researcher in Water & Environmental Engineering at the Centre for Environmental Studies and Research (CESAR) of Sultan Qaboos University. His primary research focus revolves around local management and governance of solid and liquid wastes within the framework of circular economy and sustainability. A key area of his expertise involves the conversion of organic biomass into biochars. He has coordinated and participated in various national and international projects centered on the reuse of biochars as efficient adsorbents for wastewater treatment and/or as biofertilizers in agriculture. Additionally, he has actively contributed as a member of organizing and scientific committees for numerous international conferences on water and the environment. He has authored over 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters and supervised several PhD theses and Master’s students. Dr. Jellali received the best researcher awards of SQU in 2023.

Dr. Mejdi Jeguirim is a Professor at the University of Haute-Alsace (France) in the field of energy, process engineering, and kinetics modeling. He has coauthored more than 200 refereed international journal papers in his research field and is a member of the editorial boards for the following international journals: Energy, Energies, Energy for Sustainable Development, Biofuels, and the International Journal of Green Energy.

He is involved as a scientific expert for more than 50 international scientific journals as well as for several national and international research programs. He has received the French National Research Excellence Award for researcher with high-level scientific activity for the 2009–2012, 2013–2016, 2017–2020, and 2021–2024 periods. Dr. Jeguirim has appeared in the World’s Top 2% Scientists ranking established by Stanford University since 2019.