KATHMANDU, May 1: A growing effort to strengthen research culture in Nepal’s social sciences came into focus on Friday as The Open Institute for Social Science announced the winners of its “New Ethnography Writing Award” at a special ceremony held in the capital.
This year’s competition attracted a large number of submissions from social science researchers across different disciplines. From the entries received, an international jury panel selected three outstanding research papers for recognition, according to the organiser.
The first prize of Rs 100,000 was awarded to Shrisha Bista for her research titled “The Everyday Life of Out-of-School Children in Urban Informal Settlements: A New Ethnographic Study of Working Children in the Bagmati Squatter Area.” The study examines the lived experiences of children working and living in informal settlements in Kathmandu.
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Two second prizes, each carrying Rs 25,000, were also awarded.
Chhiring Chholmo Gurung received the award for “The Door Phulmaya Never Opened,” while Yukta Sunuwar was recognised for “Flourishing Within the Fragmentation of Empathy: Nursing, Gender, and Precarity in Nepali Hospitals.”
The organiser said the selected works reflect the diversity and depth of contemporary ethnographic research being carried out in Nepal, spanning urban poverty, gender, healthcare systems, and everyday social experiences.
Addressing the award ceremony as keynote speaker, Dr Mukta Sing Lama described the initiative as an important contribution to the field of social sciences in Nepal, calling it an “inspiring and rare initiative” by The Open Institute for Social Science. He noted that platforms encouraging ethnographic and field-based research are essential for strengthening academic inquiry rooted in local realities.
The annual initiative, now in its latest edition, sought to encourage rigorous, field-based social science research produced within Nepal. According to the organiser, the award also aimed to highlight the value of locally grounded ethnographic work at a time when many students continue to leave the country in search of higher education abroad, contributing to significant financial outflows.
The Open Institute for Social Science said it has been providing international-standard academic engagement in Nepal over the past seven years as part of its broader effort to address these structural challenges in higher education.
The institute said it will continue to expand platforms that promote academic research and encourage young scholars to engage in field-based social inquiry within Nepal.
