Dr. Swarnendu Roy is presently working as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Bengal, Siliguri, India. He has more than 14 years of teaching experience. His doctoral thesis involved understanding the mechanism of salinity stress tolerance in grasses. He has published more than 50 articles in reputed journals with high-impact factors like Water Research, Scientific Reports, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Carbohydrate Polymers, etc. He has published 6 edited books with Springer and CRC Press and also published several book chapters in edited volumes. Under his supervision, 2 students have been awarded Ph.D., and he is presently supervising 4 Ph.D. research scholars who are working on stress management in plants by engineered nanoparticles, synthesis of starch-based biofilms, and edible coatings. He received International Travel Support (ITS) from DST, Govt. of India, to present his research paper at the International Conference on Integrative Plant Physiology at Sitges, Spain. He is a Life member of renowned Societies like the Indian Science Congress, the Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India), and the Society of Plant Research (India).Dr. Vivekananda Mandal is a Professor of Botany at the University of Gour Banga, Malda, India. He is working in the field of plant-microbe interaction and plant and microbial metabolites bio-prospecting for the last eighteen years. He leads the plant-microbe interaction and microbial ecology research group at his institute. He serves as a reviewer of several reputed international journals and research projects. He has published 50 nos. of research articles to his credit, including research papers, book chapters, and review articles. He has supervised 06 nos. of PhD thesis papers. He is the Principal Investigator of different state and national funded projects. He has also authored 10 nos. of book chapters in edited books from Springer-Verlag GmbH, Germany; Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd., and Springer Cham. He has also organized several conferences/workshops as convener/ organizing secretary. He has been awarded the 'Best Researcher Award 2022' by the International Research Awards on New Science Inventions, the Science Father, NESIN Awards. He is a Life member of the Association of Microbiologists in India since 2007, a Life member of the Academy for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences, a Life member of the Association of Fungal Biologists since 2024, and a Subject Editors (Botany, Plant Physiology & Biochemistry) in Vegetos, An International Journal of Plant Research and Biotechnology of the Society for Plant Research (SPR), published by Springer Nature.
