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Who we are

About Us

Welcome to HICS. We are a team of dedicated researchers and educators studying the Himalayas.

We are built on a single organising principle: that Nepal's geography, ecology, seismology, atmosphere, and cultural knowledge are not obstacles to doing serious science — they are the material.

Science done from here is deeply rooted in place, yet open to the entire universe.

The problem we are addressing

Nepal faces a structural translational gap — a broken chain between scientific knowledge and the people, places, and questions that most need it.

Research institutions operate in isolation from students and communities. Schools operate without research infrastructure. Talented graduates leave because meaningful scientific careers require going abroad. Communities facing climate change, earthquakes, and pollution lack access to local scientific data.

HICS addresses this not by improving each broken link separately, but by building a different structure entirely:

Instruments → Data → Questions → Methods → Results → Identity → More Instruments

Any point is an entry point. The same muon detector is a wonder object for a twelve-year-old and a research instrument for a physics graduate.

Vision & mission
To advance science and scientific learning through research, open instrumentation, and education deeply rooted in Nepal's geographic, ecological, and cultural realities — building the translational infrastructure that makes doing serious science in Nepal possible.

We are building toward a Nepal where:

🔭
HICS is Nepal's most credible independent research institute for physics, atmospheric science, and earth science — publishing internationally, hosting visiting researchers.
🔧
Instruments designed by HICS are deployed across hundreds of Nepali schools and replicated by institutions in other countries.
🏔
Nepali researchers who might have left to do science abroad choose instead to stay, build, and publish here.
🌐
The model HICS demonstrates — contextual, open, integrated — is adopted by similar institutions in the Andes, East Africa, and Central Asia.
Four domains of work

HICS works across four domains that are deliberately not separated. The same person works across them. The same instrument serves them all.

A
Research
Original science, openly published
Cosmic ray physics, atmospheric science, meteor astronomy, seismology, building physics, glaciology, traditional knowledge, computational science.
8 programmes →
B
Instrumentation
Open-source hardware built for Nepal
IESH environmental hub, muon detector, meteor camera, SDR station, planetarium, seismometer — all open-source.
6 instruments →
C
Education
Grade 5 to graduate level
School residencies, research fellowships, science camp, teacher development, computing courses, public programme.
6 programmes →
D
Open Knowledge
Science for everyone
Live dashboards, open datasets, API access, open-source designs, offline-first platforms, policy engagement.
Open data →
How we work
Contextual
Science done from here is rooted in our unique context. Nepal's altitude gradient, atmosphere, communities, and traditional knowledge are the subject — not constraints on imported agendas.
Open
All data published openly. All instrument designs open-source. All learning materials free. Openness is the fastest path to credibility and impact.
Integrated
Research and education are not separate departments. The same instruments serve a researcher, a teacher, and a student in the same afternoon.
Rigorous
Accessibility does not mean compromised standards. Peer-reviewed methodology and honest uncertainty quantification are non-negotiable.
Embedded
Instruments that keep generating data, relationships that outlast funding cycles, fellows who return, datasets that grow. The long game is the only game.
Patient
Good institutions take time. HICS measures success in decades, not quarters.
Who builds this

HICS is built by a small team of scientists, engineers, and educators with research backgrounds in dark matter phenomenology, meteor radar systems, atmospheric science, passive solar architecture, and educational technology.

The founding team combines peer-reviewed physics research, seven years of embedded community work in Nepal's high-altitude regions, and national-scale education programme delivery.

HICS is designed for others to join — as research partners, co-directors, fellows, and educators. The institution is deliberately structured to outlast any individual and to grow as more people bring their own scientific questions to it.

→ Join us or collaborate

International scientific networks

Nepal's scientific output, legible to the international community from day one:

Global Meteor Network Raspberry Shake Seismic Blitzortung Lightning OpenAQ Air Quality CREDO FDSN PANGAEA
Partners & collaborators
Vision Dolpo
Vision Dolpo
Research Partner

→ Visit website

HICS actively seeks new research, education, and instrumentation partners. Get in touch.

Registration

The Himalayan Institute for Contextual Sciences is registered in Nepal as an independent research organisation.

info@himalayansciences.org