Tag: KIAS

KIAS organizing a workshop on chemical lab safety

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Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) is organizing a workshop on chemistry laboratory safety issues in September this year.

A recently published research from KIAS and Tribhuvan University has shown that the safety in teaching labs in Nepal is generally neglected. Many chemistry teachers who participated in the research had said that they would benefit from regular safety trainings and workshops. This workshop aims to offer a forum for researchers, faculty, lab in charges, administrators, and policy makers for a common goal of improving the safety in chemistry teaching labs in Nepal. 

Speakers and panelists will provide their perspective on topics including standard protocols to ensure safety in teaching labs, status of safety issues in Nepali teaching labs, efforts & approaches of our teaching institutions and government agencies to creating a safe lab environment. In addition, participants will be divided into small work groups to develop action items aimed at improving specific areas of lab safety.

Participants will receive certificate after completion of the day-long workshop.

Target participants: High school and college/university chemistry teachers/faculty and PhD students

Date & time: 2 September 2017; 10:30 to 16:00
Location: Uniglobe SS/College, Kamaladi, Kathmandu, Nepal

Registration fee: NRs. 200
Registration deadline: 25 August 2017  

Organizing Committee:

  1. Dr. Basant Giri (Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences, Kathmandu)
  2. Dr. Bhanu Bhakta Neupane (Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu)
  3. Dr. Mahendra Thapa (Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences & Uniglobe HSS/College, Kathmandu)
  4. Mr. Jaya Ram Ghimire (Uniglobe SS/College, Kathmandu)
  5. Mr. Jaya Prakash Paudel (Uniglobe SS/College, Kathmandu)
  6. Mr. Shiba Kumar Oli (Uniglobe SS/College, Kathmandu)

For registration complete online form below – Only selected registrants will be invited for the workshop due to limited space. 

CLICK HERE for REGISTRATION

KIAS Summer School 2017

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Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) is organizing Summer School 2017 “Frontiers in Scientific Research”. It aims to providing specialized training on various thematic areas from well trained and experienced scientists. Participants will get certificate after completing the course.

KIAS successfully organized three such schools before: Summer School 2015, Winter School 2016, Summer School 2016, and Winter School 2017.

Target participants: Undergraduate and graduate (both MS and PhD) students and independent researchers.

Dates: 8-15 August, 2017 (total 15 hours/module; can be 3 hrs x 5 days)

Registration fee: NRs. 4000/module

Summer School 2017 includes following modules:

Module 1: Smartphone for chemical and biological analyses

Instructors: Dr. Basant Giri & Dr. Bhanu Neupane

Smartphone is not just used for WhatsApp, Facebook or Angry Birds. It can also be used to understand multitude of scientific phenomena and in research. Recent years have seen the increasing use of smartphones in scientific research and education. For example: in measuring air pollution parameters, as a spectrophotometer, for testing cholesterol, breathe analysis for disease diagnosis, chemical analysis of amino acids and other chemicals etc.

In this short course, you will be briefed with important smartphone “apps” used in classroom and research. More importantly, you will get hands on experience on quantitative chemical analysis involving image analysis and making smartphone microscope for some applications.

Topics covered: Smartphones

  • “apps” in classroom and research
  • as scientific instrument-some examples
  • for quantitative chemical analysis as a spectrophotometer
  • as microscopy for some applications

Module 2: A short course on “R” for scientific data analysis

Instructors: Dr. Susma Giri & Dr. Prakash K. Paudel

Why “R”?

  • An advanced programming language for statistical computing and graphing
  • Infinitely expandable
  • Most popular language for analytics
  • Its free to download and use

Topics covered:

  • Import & check data in R
  • Organize data and folders
  • Make effective graphs
  • Basic statistical analysis such as: linear regression, logistic regression, multiple regression, t-tests, ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc tests etc.

Module 3: The nuts & bolts of publishing your research findings

Instructors: Dr. Basant Giri & Dr. Prakash K. Paudel

Publishing a research paper is one of the necessary steps in the scientific research process. Unpublished research is considered as non-existent. Apart from the dissemination of knowledge, publication of research findings in reputed journals greatly helps in graduation, promotion, grant applications and recognition among peers. Even if you generate a valuable data from your research, writing the findings and publishing in peer-reviewed journals is a daunting task. In today’s “publish or perish” culture of science, strong writing skills are essential for progress.

This short course will guide you on how to initiate and write each section of a research manuscript efficiently starting from selecting relevant topic to submission to an appropriate journal. We will also talk on minimizing major mistakes in English writing. Second half of the course focuses on paper submission and editorial procedure, and responding to reviewer’s comments. Participants will have a number of on- and off-class exercises during the course.

Topics covered:

  • Which journal is the best?
  • Structure of paper
  • Why language is important?
  • Review and editorial process

Module 4: Disaster Risk Management for sustainable reconstruction and recovery

Instructor: Dr. Basanta Raj Adhikari

The concept of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and skills are very important in the context of Build Back Better in Nepal after Gorkha Earthquake. Knowledge on DRM and DRR are fundamental process of increasing awareness on natural disaster to empower the actors to support their organizations in developing disaster resilient programs and projects. The trainings will focused on application of DRR for early warning systems and people-centered system.

Target Audience:

This course is intended for audiences from large area including government, research organizations, donor agencies, academia, I/NGOs working in the field of emergency response and rescue.

Topics to be covered:

  1. Understanding disaster risk reduction and management
  2. Post disaster reconstruction and recovery
  3. Disaster risk management at national and international level
  4. Disaster preparedness, early warning and mitigation
  5. Disaster response systems and practices

Module 5: Radio Telemetry and Research Application in Wildlife Ecology

Instructor: Dr. Pushpa Raj Acharya

Concept: Radio telemetry is a powerful research technique to the process of obtaining information from a distant animal by using radio signals. In this technique, a transmitter is attached with live animal’s body and released into In Situ. The signal transmitted from the transmitter is detected using radio receiver by researchers. Antenna is used to enhance signal intensity and to promote accuracy. The data achieved through radio-telemetry is useful to understand ranging behavior of wild animal. Home range, foraging range, habitat use and activity pattern of the target animal. Radio-telemetry is a relevant non-invasive technique for wildlife ecology.

This course will deliver fundamental knowledge on radio telemetry technique with field demonstration. Students in Zoology, Forestry, Environmental Science, Wildlife researchers, rangers and forest officers are targeted as beneficiaries of this course.

Topic Covered

  • Introduction of Radio-telemetry
  • Field Technique and Data Collection
  • Data analysis
  • Result interpretation and Application

How to register?

If you are interested to participate, please submit your online application below.

https://goo.gl/forms/dtzCfIdl4A8eTuvE3

About instructors

Dr. Basant Giri obtained his PhD in analytical chemistry from University of Wyoming. His research interests include developing low-cost analytical methods involving the use of smartphones for various applications. Currently he works in KIAS. He has published several research articles to his repute with ~130 citations & H-index 4. He is a reviewer in several international journals. He has been working with LabEdit, SciEdit, and Yelei, which provide manuscript-editing services to academic researchers.

Dr. Bhanu Neupane obtained his PhD in Physical chemistry from Kansas State University. His research interests include developing low-cost optical tools for applications in teaching and research. Currently he works in KIAS. He has published nearly two dozen high impact research articles. His publications have received ~250 citations with H-index of 8. He is recipient of several scientific awards and the “under-represented Chemist award” from IUPAC in 2015 is the most recent one.

Dr. Prakash K Paudel is the author of several research articles and a book. He is the founder executive editor of the international journal “conservation science”.

Dr. Susma Giri is an ecologist who has been extensively using R programming for past five years. She earned her doctorate degree from the University of Wyoming and received training on using R from one of the earliest users and experts of the program. She has published two peer-reviewed research articles in international journals.

Dr. Basanta Raj Adhikari completed his PhD in Earth Science from the University of Vienna, Austria. Currently, he is working as a deputy-director in the Centre for Disaster Studies, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University where he is leading many research projects about physical disaster including flood, earthquake and landslide. His research interests are climate change, hill-slope movement and human interaction, Himalayan sediment flux generation, community based disaster risk reduction and co-seismic phenomena. He has published more than dozen research papers in both national and international journals. He is leading scientist in the field of Earth Science and disaster risk reduction. He can be reached in his web-page: http://bradhikari.com.np/

Dr. Pushpa Raj Acharya completed his PhD from Prince of Songkla University, Thailand in 2014. His specialization is on “Bat Ecology and Ecosystem Services”. He used radio-telemetry technique on bats during his PhD and also has continued the use of same technique in Nepalese fruit bats foraging at flowering patches of Chiuri (Dipklonema butyraceae) patches to identify pollination ecosystem services. Currently, he is working as a senior scientist at Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Lalitpur, Nepal.

Seminar on “challenges of providing quality pharmaceuticals in developing countries”

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By Pushkar Bhusal

Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) organized a national seminar on “Quality Pharmaceuticals and Safe Drinking Water: Challenges in Developing Countries” in Grand Hotel, Kathmandu on 5th June 2017. According to KIAS scientist Dr. Basant Giri, the seminar was organized to discuss pertinent issues regarding quality of both pharmaceuticals and drinking water among concerned stakeholders. The seminar was attended by a group of selected experts including from Department of Drug Administration (DDA), Government of Nepal, representatives from Nepal Pharmacy Council (NPC), Association of Pharmaceutical Producers Association of Nepal (APPON), representatives of private pharmaceutical companies of Nepal, representatives of international pharmaceutical companies, faculties from Tribhuvan University and Pokhara University, and Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL). Furthermore, also discussed in the seminar was the water quality screening using low-cost methods.

Dr. Bhanu Neupane, Scientist at KIAS, briefly outlined the research and science outreach programs of KIAS at the beginning of the seminar. Mr. Santosh KC, drug administrator at DDA gave a presentation on how DDA is ensuring the distribution of quality medicines across Nepal. Dr. Bal Mukunda Regmi, Professor at Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University discussed on drug manufacturing procedures and problems associated with it. He also highlighted the role of concerned agency/department/organization for maintaining the cost of drugs. Dr. Toni Barstis and Dr. Reena Lamichhane both from Saint Mary’s College, IN, USA presented their research findings and way forward. While Dr. Barstis talked about the development of Paper-based Analytical Device (PADs) for pharmaceutical quality screening, Dr. Khadka’s described works on similar device for microbial screening of water and milk. Both of these projects are being implemented in collaboration with KIAS and Dr. Giri contributes as an international collaborator and faculty.

The seminar concluded by remarks from by Prof. Dharma Khanal from Manamohan Institute of Health Science, Kathmandu, Prof. Dr. Rameshwar Adhikari, Executive Director at Research Center for Applied Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Mr. Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Division Chief of water/waste water, KUKL, Mr. Deepak Prasad Dahal from APPON, and Mr. Baburam Humagain from NPC. The director general of DDA, Mr. Nayaran Dhakal, provided special remark. Mr. Dhakal also answered questions and queries raised during the seminar regarding various issues.

The seminar ended with question and answer session.

Seminar on Cultural Landscape and Environmental Change in the Himalayas

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By Pushkar Bhusal

Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) co-hosted a one-day seminar on “Cultural Landscape and Environmental Change in the Himalayas”, in collaboration with Central Department of Environmental Science (CDES-TU), Kathmandu, Nepal and California State University (Fresno State), Fresno, CA, USA on 24th May, 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The seminar was part of the study abroad course (GEOG 177T) offered by Fresno State, which is being implemented in Nepal by CDES-TU with support from KIAS. This course takes students to the interior of the third pole, the Nepalese Himalayas, to learn about cultural landscape and environmental change. Participants spend a few days in Kathmandu Valley, known for its historic sites, ancient temples, religious shrines, and captivating villages. Activities include a tour of the primeval city of Bhaktapur and Kathmandu Durbar Square. Students also travel to the picturesque town of Pokhara and trek through Nepal’s largest protected range, Annapurna Conservation Area, where they have a rare opportunity to interact with an ethnic Gurung community in a world famous Ghandruk village nestled at the foot of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna Himalayan peaks. The program concludes with a field tour of deep gorges, magnificent lakes, and stunning views of the Himalayas from Pokhara and wrap up in Kathmandu.

The aim of the seminar was to discuss various aspects of cultural landscape and environmental changes in the Himalayas and also to provide theoretical knowledge on these topics to students from both USA and Nepal.

More than 50 professionals along with students attended the seminar. Professor Dr. Shudha Tripathi, Rector of Tribhuwan University, inaugurated the seminar. Dr. Mohan B. Dangi, Professor and course leader from Fresno State briefly described the course and its expectations. Dr. Basant Giri, scientist and director of international relations at KIAS moderated the event.

Expert speakers in technical session were Dr. Ram Prasad Chaudhary, Professor Emeritus of Tribhuwan University, Dr. Kedar Rijal, Professor and head of CDES-TU, Dr. Madan Koirala, Professor at CDES-TU, Dr. Rejina Maskey, Professor of CDES-TU, Dr. Ram Chhetri, Professor of TU, Dr. Khem N. Poudyal, Professor of TU, Dr. Prachand Shrestha, Scientist at Edeniq, Inc, CA, USA, Mr. Rabindra N. Bhattarai, Professor of TU, Dr. Susma Giri, Scientist of KIAS, and Dr. Mohan Dangi, Professor of Fresno State.

Speakers extensively discussed on major environmental problems of Nepal such as urbanization and air pollution, biodiversity, climate change and solid waste management.

International Conference on Mountains to be held in Kathmandu

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By Pushkar Bhusal

The Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) will host and organize the second international conference on “Mountains in the Changing World” (#MoChWo 2017) from 27-28 October 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal. This is an annual event co-organized by faculty of health sciences, Pokhara University, Nepal and aims to bring researchers, students, scientists, and policy makers together to share their research findings and experiences. The two-day event will cover a wide range of topics such as disasters, resilience, and adaptation; biodiversity conservation; climate change; environmental pollution; forest management; soil, water and atmospheric research. The first version of MoChWo conference, the #MoChWo 2016, was held in the Grand Hotel, Kathmandu, Nepal from 1-2 October, 2016 in which researchers from 10 countries had delivered 106 scientific presentations and was attended by more than 160 participants.
According to Dr. Basant Giri, the convener of MoChWo 2017 conference, major theme of this year’s conference has been finalized as air pollution: mechanism and consequences. Dr. Giri added, “as Kathmandu is witnessing a worst situation of air pollution in recent years this conference will help to understand the reasons behind the pollution, its impact on our health and ecosystem, and possible remedies”. The conference will include plenary session, specialized symposiums, parallel sessions, poster sessions, and policy dialogue. Student presenters will be awarded with best poster and oral presentation awards during the conference. At this point the confirmed guest speakers are Prof. Shu Tao from Chinese Academy of Science, China and Dr. Andreas Markwitz from New Zealand.

KIAS is a non-profit science based research institution in Nepal. Scientists at KIAS are leading various multidisciplinary researches in both fundamental and applied areas ranging from biodiversity and climate change to the development of new technologies for chemical and biological analyses in pursuit of the advancement of knowledge in science and technology.

The details of MoChWo 2017 conference can be found in the conference website (http://conference.kias.org.np). Anyone interested to present at this conference has to submit abstract of presentation. Experts in the field subject the abstract to review and decide if it is appropriate for the conference. The abstracts must be submitted online and the online submission will start from 2 April.

Important dates of the conference are:

Abstract submission: 2 April to 22 August
Early bird registration: 2 April to 31 August
Regular registration: 1 September to 22 September

Dr. Prakash K. Paudel appointed as executive director of KIAS

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The executive committee of Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) has appointed Dr. Prakash K. Paudel as Executive Director. Dr. Paudel’s appointment as executive director is effective April 1, 2017. He is also appointed as a scientist at Center for Conservation Biology of KIAS. As executive director, Dr. Paudel will look after overall management and everyday operations of KIAS.

Dr. Paudel holds Ph.D. in Biology of Ecosystem from Jihočeská univerzita, Czech Republic. Prior to taking over as the executive director at KIAS, he was at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Lalitpur, Nepal. He is also an executive editor of Conservation Science journal, a peer-reviewed and open-access journal published by KIAS.

His research areas include meta-population structure of mammals in the fragmented landscapes, human-wildlife conflict, systematic conservation planning and has published a book, several book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles on wildlife biology, conservation planning and human-wildlife interactions. His research also focuses on national science policy.

He loves to travel and enjoys trekking.

Talk program on microbial cell factory by Dr. Sailesh Malla

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In another episode of #KIAS #ExpertOpinion talk series, Dr. Sailesh Malla gave a presentation on sustainable production of bioactive compounds using microbial cell factories. This talk was held at Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) office, Kalanki and was well attended by students, faculty and others.

Microbial cell factories such as bacterial cells offer extensive opportunities for the commercial production of complex biomolecules. This method is considered to be consuming less energy and using less heavy metal catalysts, acids and bases used in conventional chemical synthesis making microbial synthesis less toxic method. During his talk Dr. Malla highlighted his work involving gram-negative bacterium E. coli as host combining its genetic modification and favorable fermentation system for industrial production of molecules of interest such as flavonoids.

Dr. Malla holds PhD in biochemistry from Sun Moon University, South Korea and currently works as researcher at the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Center for Biosustainability, The Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.

Talk program on “Virtual reality” by Rajiv Khadka

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Mr. Ankit Pandeya enjoying the VR box observation

Mr. Rajiv Khadka gave a talk on “Virtual Reality & It’s Application in the Context of Nepal” on 30 December 2016. Mr. Khadka is a PhD candidate at department of computer science, University of Wyoming, USA. The talk was held at Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) office, Kalanki and was well attended by students, faculty and others.

During his talk, Mr. Khadka demonstrated the concept of virtual reality using VR boxes and highlighted the prospect of its applications in Nepal including in tourism industry, education, agriculture and health. Participants were excited to learn about the new emerging technology-VR.

KIAS organizes #ExpertOpinion talk series on regular basis to promote science for making good policy by inviting experts of various fields.

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Mr. Rajiv Khadka receiving a token of love from Dr. Basant Giri, Director of International Relations, KIAS

Mountain issues discussed at international conference on mountains in the changing world

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Group photo of the MoChWo conference participants, Photo: KIAS 2016

Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) organized an international conference on mountains in the changing world (MoChWo) from 1-2 October, this year. The very first conference of its kind was focused on the theme “living through disasters: mitigation, adaptation and resilience” and was held at the Grand Hotel, Kathmandu, Nepal.

More than 150 scientists, researchers, professors, students and policy makers attended the conference. Participants were from Nepal, India, China, South Korea, France, Germany, Portugal, United States of America, Canada and the Netherland. The opening ceremony of the conference, on the first day, included a welcome speech by the convener of the conference, Dr. Basant Giri, and two keynote talks. Professor Stefan Becker from Lehman College, CUNY, New York, USA delivered the first keynote talk. In his presentation, Dr. Becker highlighted important issues on the impact of climate change on mountainous environment. Professor emeritus Monique Fort from University Paris Diderot, France presented her research on managing disasters in mountain countries. Dr. Fort compared disaster management practices from two different angles – one from France and other from Nepal. The inauguration session was followed by a plenary session, 12 technical parallel sessions run and a poster session later on. Paper presenters and participants exchanged their research experience and findings. Cross cutting issues regarding mountains such as disaster risk reduction, climate change, biodiversity conservation, environmental pollution, forest management, agro-economy, sustainable development were discussed with oral and poster presentations throughout the sessions.

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MoChWo conference participants, Photo: KIAS 2016

The MoChWo conference was concluded with award distribution and appreciation to various individuals and organizations involved in making the event successful. Best student oral presentation was awarded to Mr. Kaushal Raj Gyawali and best student poster presentation was awarded to Ms. Mohana Matangulu, both from Khwapa College, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Pokhara University, Nepal, Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal and Local Initiative for Biodiversity, Research and Development, Nepal were the co-organizers of the 2016 MoChWo conference. In addition, the conference was made possible in partnership with the Hario Ban Program Consortium, Nepal, Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, Youth Alliance for Environment, Nepal, Community-based Rainfall Measurement-Nepal, Golden Gate International College, Nepal, Conservation Science journal. This event was sponsored by the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, USA, California State University-Fresno, USA and the peer reviewed journals Environments and Sustainability.

By Yogesh Rana