Notes on the visit to Nepal Oct/Nov 2019 (Hans)
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Our visit was mainly to Kathmando University, but also to the KU Hospital, Symposium on Asian Development Studies, and NAST.

In mostly chronological order [1]:

1) at KU

The outcome of working on the main subject of the visit, the computer cluster at KU donated by CERN, is covered by Wainer's document [2]. I have nothing to add to this because it covers all aspects discussed and met during the work. Also I am not competent enough anymore in this field which has developed much since my active time (next time a more knowledgable person than me should travel).

The presentations we heard on Sunday 20th focused on the use of computing on various fields of research at KU: fluid dynamics for hydroelectric plants in Nepal; environmental modelling incl. construction of 3D landscape models from photopraphy in Nepal; engeneering in more general; computing in health and medicine in Nepal. I found all of these very well presented, and their subjects very interesting and relevant for the country.

We had a meeting with the VC of KU, Prof.Dr.Ram Kantha Makaju Shrestha, on Monday. An impressive and certainly influential person, married with a German woman, who spent several years in Austria and likes to speak German. Remarkably, he then returned to Nepal and founded the, to my mind excellent, KU Hospital. From what he said, one thing I remember very well: Nepal is many decades behind in development and it needs small steps to proceed. To underline this I think, he said that it would be bad if Nepal would become like Switzerland. He must have had in mind the preservation of the Nepali culture, whatever progress is made, and I can fully understand and appreciate that. He was hesitant regarding establishing a particle physics faculty - hydropower is more compatible with small steps. But he also said that there is also the need for deeper fundaments, like fundamental science, apart from the broader fundaments of applied science.
Dr.Ram was hesitant to come to CERN in person and said he would prefer someone closer to the matter to go instead.

Afterwards we gave our CERN related presentations, which were received well and with much interest.

We visited the labs of the physics faculty. There is rather simple experimental equipment only in these labs, well suited for student education. In this respect, the computer cluster is a very substantial piece of equipment in KU, and much hope is put into it. The students seem to compensate the present lack of access to particle physics equipment by a broad as well as deep interest and knowledge of what goes on in particle physics experiments and theory.

Dr.Rajendra Adhikari, who together with Sameer Tamrakar leads the computer cluster effort with great engagement, has spent several years in the US and then came back to his country.

There is also a plasma physics group at KU, working with low-temperature plasmas, e.g. for medical (tissue) applications. Unless there are other plasma physics groups elsewhere in Nepal, a possible interplay with AWAKE seems far away. But who knows, Nepali physicists are very inventive!

2) Hospital

We were given the opportunity to visit KU Hospital, a modern institution in very good state which continues to grow. From the talk on Sunday by Saran Shrestha we already knew that the Hospital maintains close links to some 30 smaller hospitals/medical stations in the wider area. These include mobile diagnostic equipment, modified from a Spanish device to include satellite based communication to allow doctors at the KU Hospital to diagnose further and if need be, bring the patient to KU or the doctor to the patient.

3) Asian Development Studies

Two of us went to the opening of the 5th International Symposium on Asian Development Studies, held at he Marriott Hotel at Kathmandu on Wednesday, following a suggestion and invitation of the VC. Delegates were from governments, NGOs, and industry, with a strong involvement of South Korea. I was impressed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Education of Nepal, Mahesh Prasad Dahal (Agenda and Dr.Ram's speech I have at home).

4) National Academy of Science and Technology NAST

We went to NAST in Lalitpur near Kathmandu on Friday. This institution seems close to the government and certainly has a broader range of activity than KU. One of our hosts there explicitely mentioned to need for attractive prospects in Nepal in order for Nepali scientists to return home after some time abroad. Also the possibility of establishing a centre of excellence was mentioned for particle physics. Such centres do exist already in Nepal, for instance in molecular biology (?). We spoke to Vice Chancellor Dr.Sunil Babu Shrestha, Secretary Dr.Mahesh Kumar Adhikari, and Spokesperson Dr.Suresh Kumar Dhungel. It maybe worthwhile to invite a NAST person to CERN.


[1] agenda of the week at Dhulikhel and Kathmandu: https://indico.cern.ch/event/850997/timetable/#all.detailed (key 125170)
[2] compute cluster document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sXTw5bTYnCIq0IHhMk3YaXhhOeW3vgA1G2k7mYj9y4k/