Laura Prati is an associate professor of inorganic chemistry at Università degli Studi di Milano since 2001. She is a chemistry graduate (1983), received her specialization in "Tecniche Analitiche per la Chimica Organica Fine" from Politecnico of Milan in 1985, and was awarded a PhD in industrial chemistry in 1988. Her principal scientific interests are catalytic hydrogenation and oxidation reactions, and she has been involved in catalytic applications of gold since 1986.

Alberto Villa is an assistant professor at the University of Milan. He received his PhD in industrial chemistry in 2007 from the University of Milan, and his thesis focused on the development of gold-based catalysts for liquid-phase reactions. After two years of a postdoc program at the Fritz Haber Institute of Max Planck Gesellschaft, Berlin, with Prof. Robert Schlögl, he joined Laura Prati's group in 2009. His research focuses on the development of heterogeneous catalysts for biomass transformation. He has (co)authored over 60 publications in peer-reviewed journals.