Young Scientists Forum Nepal (YSFN)
Brief Introduction
Young Scientists Forum Nepal (YSFN) was established in 2020 under the patronship of the Vice-Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). The first meeting of the forum’s founding committee was held on 18 February, 2020 at NAST in the presence of Dr. Sunil Babu Shrestha, Vice Chancellor of NAST. The founding committee is responsible to envision and formulate YSFN’s guidelines and procedures (Karyabidhi) to carry its functions. The vision of YSFN is to create a national-level platform and network for young scientists in Nepal with the goal to promote science and technology related activities, collaborations and networking among young scientists in Nepal. It also aims to collaborate with other Young Scientists Associations in all the provinces of Nepal and bring the collective strengths of young scientists to contribute to the country's motto of making "Prosperous Nepal and Happy Nepali". YSFN will not only work for the scientific communities, but will also support the government for evidence-based policy formulation and implementation. YSFN provides a platform to exchange ideas, initiate discussions on scientific topics, collaborate among the new generation of scientists and make the voices of the young researchers be heard by senior academicians and policy makers of the country. In a nutshell, YSFN aims to be a collective voice of young scientists and will work to bridge the gap between science and the society.
Objective
YSFN is established with an objective to provide a platform for young scientists of Nepal to actively participate and contribute in the advancement of science, technology and innovation, and to inspire, promote and champion contextual scholarly research for the socio-economic development of the country.
Major Activities of a Young Scientists Forum Nepal
- Mobilize potential young scientists (first degree graduates, young researchers, pre-PhD, prospective PhDs) through public seminars, enhancing science education, international exchange, internships and mentorship.
- Provide advisory services to young researchers to build their research career potential and young scientists ambassador programme
- Organize meetings for its members on a regular basis to manage the YSFN, discuss issues of concern to young scientists in the country, promote interdisciplinary research and conduct programme on NAST with citizens.
- Develop and manage a national database for scientific events, funding opportunities and resources.
- Publish articles on scientific issues of national importance in journals and magazines published by the national academy to promote the activities of YSFN at the national level.
Founding committee members
The founding committee for Nepal Young Scientists Forum (NYSF) has been formed as per suggestion of an ad-hoc committee formed by NAST. The founding members of the committee are chosen from the network of young scientists who have been awarded “Young Science and Technology Award” and “NABIL-NAST Science and Technology Award” from NAST. The founding committee will be replaced by elected committee members in the due course of time. As per the guideline, the members of NYSF should be below 40 years at the joining date and can serve up to 5 years.
Prof. Dr. Dilip Subba : Patron
Founder Members
Dr. Meghnath Dhimal, Coordinator
Dr. Meghnath Dhimal works as a Chief of Research Division at the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), Government of Nepal. He completed his PhD in Geo-sciences (Environmental Health Sciences) from the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 2015. He has also served the World Health Organization (WHO) in the capacity of Temporary Adviser as well as in the capacity of Climate Change and Health Expert. He has been nominated as a member of Global Young Academy since 2017 for five years. Dr Dhimal was awarded the ‘Young Science and Technology Award’ from the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) in 2015. Besides these, he serves as an Associate Academician of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), expert member of various technical and steering committees formed by the Government of Nepal and Associate Editor of the Global Health Section of BMC Public Health Journal.
Publication link: https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=iD4CQUgAAAAJ&hl=en
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Achyut Adhikari, Member
Dr. Achyut Adhikari is an Assistant Professor at the Central Department of Chemistry, Tribhuvan University. He completed his PhD (2010) and Postdoctoral (2013) in bio-organic chemistry. He has published over 100 research papers, three US patents, one book, and supervised/co-supervised 10 Ph.D. and M. Phil. students so far. His current research interest includes the discovery of new bioactive natural products, standardization of aromatic and medicinal plants, and green synthesis of nanoparticles and its application. He is a visiting professor in different universities of Srilanka and Kazakhstan and co-supervising graduate students. He is a member of the Interim Board of study of IBMBB, University of Colombo, Srilanka. He is the recipient of the prestigious ‘Atta-ur-Rahman” award of 2019 from The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), and young scientist award 2019 from NAST. He is a member of the advisory committee for Biotechnology of the ministry of science and technology Nepal.
Publication link: https://scholar.google.com.pk/citations?hl=en&user=ZH8AQAIAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Pramod Poudel, Member
Dr. Pramod Poudel works as a Director of Research Division at the University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of Nepal. He completed his PhD in Biotechnology (Applied Molecular Microbiology and Biomass Chemistry) from the Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan in 2015. Currently, he has been leading several national-level research projects on bioremediation, composting and traditional fermented foods in Nepal. He is also the visiting faculty at the Department of Biotechnology, TU. He has been nominated as a biotechnology expert since 2019 for two years at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Nepal. He is a young scientist awardee of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) in the year 2017. Besides these, he serves as an expert member various technical and steering committee formed by Government of Nepal. He has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed journal papers, essays, technical reports and articles in the popular press.
Publication link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ekElm5sAAAAJ&hl=en
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Prativa Pandey, Member
Dr. Prativa Pandey, Founder/CEO of Catalyst Technology, is a researcher and a science entrepreneur. Currently, her research is focused on value addition of medicinal plants of Nepal. She is a researcher at Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology. and a visiting faculty at RECAST, TU. She completed her MS/Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Northwestern University and Management Certificate from the Kellogg School of Management, USA, in 2013. She has led research teams in the US, Singapore and Nepal, and published several research publications, reports, and patents. She is a member of STI Policy Implementation and Promotion Council, MOEST, and an advisory member of High-level Industrial and Investment Policy Forum, MOICS. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Gandaki University, Nepal. She received prestigious UNESCO-OWSD Early Career Fellowship and NAST-NABIL Science and Technology Award, 2019, in recognition of her leadership and excellence in STEM.
Publication link: https://scholar.google.de/citations?hl=en&user=EXeOonIAAAAJ
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Ram Devi Tachamo Shah, Member
Dr. Ram Devi Tachamo Shah works as a Post Doctoral Research Associate at Aquatic Ecology Centre, Kathmandu University where she leads research on freshwater ecosystems and bioassessment. Dr. Tachamo Shah is also a visiting faculty at Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University. Dr. Tachamo Shah holds a PhD in Natural Sciences from Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. She has two Master’s degrees in Environmental Sciences with specialization in Limnology and Wetland Ecosystems, and Water Resources Development and Planning from UNESCO-Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands, and Tribhuvan University. She has more than 14 years of research experience in Nepal and abroad including Bhutan, India, Republic of China, Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. She received a prestigious ‘Young Science and Technology Award 2016’ from the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). She has published more than three dozen research articles in peer reviewed journals, several chapters and 2 books.
Publication link: https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=Fvb1caYAAAAJ&hl=en
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Santosh Nepal, Member
Dr. Santosh Nepal works as a Water and Climate Specialist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and also leads the Climate and Hydrology Group within our Water and Air Theme. Dr Nepal holds a PhD in mountain hydrology from the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany, as well as two Masters degrees in Environmental Management and Anthropology from Nepal. His main areas of expertise include hydrological modelling, climate change and its impact, upstream-downstream linkages, integrated water resource management and integrated river basin management. Dr Nepal has published many research articles on these topics. Dr Nepal also serves as a visiting faculty in Nepal and Germany to teach mountain hydrology and also supervise Masters and PhD students in various Universities. Dr Nepal was awarded ‘Young Science and Technology Award’ from the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) in 2016 and prestigious MahendraVidhya Bhusan ‘Ka’ in 2013 in Nepal.
Publication link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JZy0g0AAAAAJ&hl=en
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Yogendra Shah, Member
Dr. Yogendra Shah works as a Senior Research Microbiologist and Lecturer position at National Zoonoses and Food Hygiene Research Center and Kathmandu College of Science and Technology, Nepal. He completed his PhD in Veterinary Medicine (Bacteriology) from Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Japan in 2017. His research areas is mainly focus to better understand the molecular epidemiological features/transmission dynamics of infectious diseases and zoonotic infectious diseases in Nepal by employing molecular techniques like ELISA, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and DNA Sequencing. He was awarded ‘Young Science and Technology Award’ from the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) in 2019. His research interests include infectious diseases, zoonotic infectious diseases and vector borne diseases. He has published more than 34 research articles and 12 books in peer-reviewed journals.
Publication link: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0820-4556
Email: [email protected]