Molina was educated in Mexico, Germany and the USA and he obtained his PhD from UC Berkeley (physical chemstry, 1972). He is professor of atmospheric chemistry, dept. of chemistry and biochemistry, University of California, San Diego and president of the Mario Molina Center in Mexico City. His previous positions include: institute professor at MIT; associate professor at UC Irvine; and senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His awards include Tyler Ecology and Energy Award; American Chemical Society Esselen Award; NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement; Nobel Prize in Chemistry; National Medal of Freedom, USA, and the Walker Prize, Boston Museum of Science. His membership includes: National Academy of Sciences, USA; National Academy of Medicine, USA; Academia Mexicana de Ingenieria; Academia Mexicana de Ciencias; Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Terrones (Phd Birkbeck College, U. of London) is Rayleigh Endowed Chair Prof. in Physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. in USA. After holding a postdoc position in the dept. of chem., U. of Cambridge (UK), he returned to Mexico to the Inst. of Physics, UNAM, where he spent 8 years as a researcher. He moved to San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to start a new institute with the main idea of working in multidisciplinary research and to decentralize science outside of Mexico City. Main awards include: Mexican Acad. of Sciences Prize in Exact Sciences (2000), UNAM Prize for Young Scientists in Exact Sciences (2000), El Potosi Prize from IPICyT (2004). He is a member of the Mexican Acad. of Sciences. He has been invited prof. in UCL (Belgium), UFC (Brazil), Penn State (USA), Shinshu (Japan) and ORNL (USA). He has contributed to the theory and experiment of 2-D materials, such as graphene and TMDs.