Shahwaz Alam, a student at Bal Kalyan Vidhya Mandir in Biratnagar, won gold at the fifth Junior International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, according to the Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO).
NASO president Suresh Bhattarai said it is Nepal’s first gold medal at the competition, which ran from Nov 1 to 8. Sahaj KC won a bronze medal and Evan Dubey received an honorable mention. Abhi Udaya Dhungana and Akhilesh Pokharel were the other two members of the five-student delegation.
How the team was selected
NASO has organized the National Astronomy Olympiad every year since 2014 for students in Grades 8 to 12. The 13th edition began with provincial examinations on Jan 17.
A national closed camp was held in Kathmandu from June 1 to 7. NASO published merit lists on June 15, with 40 students each in the junior and senior categories. Alam topped the junior list.
NASO says the final merit list was based on examination results and performance at the camp. Team selection also involved interviews with students and parents.
NASO held an online orientation for selected students on July 31. Pre-departure training began on Aug 6 and covered theoretical and observational astronomy, data analysis and telescope handling. NASO named 16 students to three international astronomy olympiads this year.
Examination centres in all seven provinces
For the 2026 round, NASO listed examination centres in Itahari (Koshi), Janakpur (Madhesh), Kathmandu (Bagmati), Pokhara (Gandaki), Butwal (Lumbini), Birendranagar (Karnali) and Dhangadhi (Sudurpashchim).
The registration fee was Rs 1,000. NASO offered a 50 percent waiver, reducing the fee to Rs 500, for students described as poor and deserving. Applicants had to upload a letter from their local government or ward office explaining their academic and financial circumstances.
School facilities
The Ministry of Education and Sports Annual Report 2025/26, published a report on Oct 25, show that 70.4 percent of community schools do not have ICT laboratories. The report says 85.4 percent of community schools have internet access.
Data from the Education and Human Resource Development Center show that about half of community schools lacked teachers in subjects including mathematics, English, and science and technology. The data include 3,203 science and technology teachers for Grades 9 and 10 in public schools.
Outreach beyond the Olympiad
NASO says it has held informal astronomy and space-science classes in schools and colleges since 2007. Its programmes include teacher training, workshops and public stargazing sessions.
NASO is also running the 2026 All-Nepal Asteroid Search Campaign with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration. Participating institutions receive training, mentorship, software and telescope data for asteroid searches.
Tribhuvan University offers astrophysics within its postgraduate physics programme. Space Science has been introduced as an undergraduate elective, NASO says.
