Prof. Hongbo Zhao obtained his BSc, MSc and PhD degrees from Central South University in Changsha, China. Prof. Zhao obtained his doctoral degree in Minerals Processing Engineering in 2016. From 2016.06 to 2021.08, he worked at Central South University as an associate professor. Since 2021.08, he has been working at Central South University as full professor. His research mainly focuses on mineral processing and extractive metallurgy, biohydrometallurgy/biomining. He also has rich practical experiences in the mining and metallurgical industries.Prof. Congren Yang (1985. 03-) received B.Sc. (2008), M.Sc. (2011), and Ph.D. (2015) degrees in minerals processing engineering from the School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University (Changsha, China). His doctoral supervisor is Prof. Wenqing Qin. Prof. Yang was a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Environment of Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) in 2015.12-2018.06. Since 2018, he has been working at Central South University as an associate professor. His research interest focuses on mineral processing, hydrometallurgy, electronic waste treatment, and metals recycling and sustainability. Prof. Yang published over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, and applied more than 1o patents. Prof. Xian Zhang (1988. 11-) obtained the PhD degree in microbiology at Central South University in Changsha, China. Since 2017, he has been employed by Central South University as an associate professor. He is experienced in the field of environmental microbiology and microbial ecology. Prof. Zhang has long been devoted to the omics-based study on mineral-bioleaching microorganisms, with a specific focus on their ecological roles and metabolic functions. As of now, he as the first author/corresponding author has over 10 SCI papers that have been published in various international authoritative journals, such as BMC Genomics, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, and Frontiers in Microbiology. Dr. Yisheng Zhang is a professor in the School of Minerals Processing & Bioengineering, Central South University, and a scientist at the Key Lab of Biohydrometallurgy of Ministry of Education, both in Changsha, Hunan, China. Prof. Guanzhou Qiu, Scientist of Mineral Engineering, born in Guangdong Province of China. Prof. Qiu obtained his PhD degree in September of 1987 and has ever served as the vice president of Central South University for about 20 years. He was selected as the Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in 2011. Prof. Qiu mainly focus on the research of efficient and clean utilization of mineral resources. Prof. Qiu has more than 200 publications and five monographs, he has achieved four National Science and Technology Awards and two Ten Major Scientific and Technological Progress of China's Colleges and Universities. Prof. Qiu has conducted many key scientific projects, including two “973 Program and “863 Program. Prof. Qiu is the vice chairman of International Society for Biohydrometallurgy and was the chairman of 19th International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium (IBS).
