Excited Nepali students meet with world scientists

KATHMANDU, March 21 (Xinhua) -- How would he/she feel if a young student in a poor country who dreams of being a scientist one day is able to participate in an international conference where more than 300 scientists from 50 countries get together in Kathmandu?

"We two are the first to get registered on the list of local participants," an excited Dhruba Prasad Pokhrel said, pointing to his friend next to him.

Pokhrel is a chemistry student doing his master degree in the Tribhuvan University of Nepal. He is participating in the "World Forum on Advanced Materials POLYCHAR - 19", which began in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Nepal is hosting the annual event POLYCHAR, which was inaugurated by Nepali Prime Minister Jhal Nath Khanal on Sunday. The five-day conference will bring new research results from different scientists and is set to award the outstanding presentations.

"POLYCHAR - 19" is a worldwide event held in Nepal for the first time and also for the first time so many scientists have come together in Nepal, Pokhrel said.

"POLYCHAR is a word of chemistry related to carbon chain. In this conference scientists will present their research and young students like us will learn more," said 23-year-old Pokhrel.

According to Binod Kumar Dulal, 24, another chemistry student, this conference has encouraged them to do research. Through this conference, "we"ll get to coordinate at an international level and it"s a chance to interact with international scientists," he said.

"It would have been almost impossible to participate in such a conference if it had been organized by other countries, but it"s like a golden opportunity for me to participate in such a big event here in my own country," Dulal said excitedly, meaning that more or less his dream of becoming a scientist one day has been made easier by hosting this event in his country.

The chemistry meeting jointly organized by POLYCHAR, the Tribhuvan University in Nepal, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), among others, aims at bringing together established polymer scientists, young researchers and students from academia and industries.

According to the local organizers, the conference will provide an intensive interactive forum for discussion on recent developments in science and technology of polymeric materials with a special focus on nanostructured and biorelated polymers.