News & Activities
KIAS Summer School 2017
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 Unpublished research is considered as non-existent.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:
- Understanding disaster risk reduction and management
- Post disaster reconstruction and recovery
- Disaster risk management at national and international level
- Disaster preparedness, early warning and mitigation
- 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.
