Science and Math Competitions
Contests for school students who love solving hard problems. First the olympiads: each starts with rounds held across Nepal, and the best students go on to represent Nepal against students from about a hundred countries. Further down are international contests you can enter on your own.
Mathematics
Nepal Mathematical Olympiad
Mathematical Association of Nepal
- Who
- Grades 8 to 12.
- When
- Registration opens around January. Students go from a district round, held in all 77 districts, to a province round and a national round; team selection tests pick six students.
- Leads to
- International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). Nepal has taken part every year since 2017.
Nepal at the IMO(opens in a new tab) Every IMO problem since 1959(opens in a new tab)
Astronomy
National Astronomy Olympiad
Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO)
- Who
- Junior: Grades 8 to 10. Senior: Grades 11 and 12.
- When
- Registration closes in early January. Province round in January, national round in February, and a week-long final camp in June. Held every year since 2014.
- Leads to
- International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) and its junior olympiad, the International Astronomy Olympiad, and the Asian-Pacific Astronomy Olympiad.
- Latest
- November 2025: a bronze medal at the International Astronomy Olympiad in Dhaka, won by a Grade 10 student.
Physics
Nepal Physics Olympiad (NePhO)
Nepal Physical Society
- Who
- Students who haven’t started university and are under 20 on June 30 of the olympiad’s year.
- When
- A first round picks 25 students for a camp at Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, in May, with a theory exam and an experiment exam. The top five form the team.
- Leads to
- International Physics Olympiad (IPhO).
- Latest
- 2024: a bronze medal and an honourable mention at the IPhO.
Computer programming
Nepal Olympiad in Informatics (NOI)
NPLCoder
- Who
- Secondary school students. Any programming language in the early rounds. Free to enter.
- When
- Registration in October (the first NOI, in 2025, closed on October 30). District, province, and two national rounds; the best go to a training camp.
- Leads to
- International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).
Artificial intelligence
National AI Olympiad
Himalayan Linguistic Olympiad Nepal (HLON)
- Who
- Secondary school students.
- When
- Several rounds; the dates are on its website.
- Leads to
- International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI), where students solve machine-learning problems in Python.
- Latest
- August 2026: Nepal’s first medal at the IOAI, a bronze, and three honourable mentions.
Linguistics
Linguistics Olympiad Nepal
Himalayan Linguistic Olympiad Nepal (HLON)
- Who
- Secondary school students. No other languages needed: each problem is a puzzle about a language you’ve never seen, solved by logic.
- When
- The dates are on its website.
- Leads to
- International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL). Nepal has sent a team since 2019.
- Latest
- September 2026: Nepal’s first award at the IOL, a Special Appreciation.
Linguistics Olympiad Nepal(opens in a new tab) Past IOL problems, with solutions(opens in a new tab)
Biology
National Biology Olympiad
Science Teachers’ Association of Nepal (STAN)
- Who
- Students aged 16 to 19 who haven’t started university.
- When
- A multiple-choice round at school, then district and province rounds, an online course and a camp, a national round, and a practical (lab) round. Held since 2017.
- Leads to
- International Biology Olympiad (IBO), which Nepal is joining (a pending member in 2026).
- Latest
- 2025: 1,200 students from 425 schools took part, up from 640 in 2023.
Nepal at the IBO(opens in a new tab) Past IBO papers(opens in a new tab)
Robotics
Robotics for Good Youth Challenge, Nepal
Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN), for the UN’s ITU
- Who
- School teams, in a junior and a senior category.
- When
- A national competition around May; the winning teams go to the final in Geneva in July. Each year has a theme (food and farming in 2026).
- Leads to
- The international final at the UN’s AI for Good summit in Geneva.
- Latest
- 2025: Nepal’s junior team came second and the senior team third, among teams from more than 40 countries.
Robotics
FIRST Global Challenge, Team Nepal
Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN)
- Who
- Five students under 18, from schools across Nepal.
- When
- Chosen through national robotics competitions and interviews. One team per country; the challenge is held in a different country each autumn (Panama in 2025).
- Leads to
- The FIRST Global Challenge, a robotics “Olympics” with a team from almost every country.
Chemistry
Chemistry Olympiad
STEM Foundation Nepal
- Who
- School students who haven’t started university, under 20.
- When
- The dates aren’t online at the moment; ask your school’s science teacher.
- Leads to
- International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). Nepal sent four students in 2025.
Enter from anywhere
International contests you can enter straight from Nepal, online or by video, with no national round first.
Science and math
Breakthrough Junior Challenge
Breakthrough Prize Foundation
- Who
- Ages 13 to 18, anywhere in the world, on your own. Free to enter. Entries in English.
- When
- Entries open in May and close in mid-September.
- What
- Make a video of up to two minutes explaining a big idea in physics, the life sciences or mathematics. The winner gets a $250,000 university scholarship, $50,000 for a teacher, and a $100,000 science lab for their school.
Mathematics
Purple Comet! Math Meet
Purple Comet (run by volunteers since 2003)
- Who
- Middle school and high school teams of up to six, from any country, with a teacher or another adult as supervisor. Free.
- When
- Once a year in April (April 6 to 15 in 2027), online, at a time the school picks.
- What
- A team contest: 20 problems in an hour (middle school) or 30 in an hour and a half (high school). Thousands of teams from more than 80 countries take part.
Computer programming
USA Computing Olympiad (USACO)
USACO, a non-profit
- Who
- Secondary school students anywhere can take the online contests. Free.
- When
- Online contests in January and February; each lasts a few hours, taken at any time over a weekend.
- What
- Write programs to solve problems, moving up from Bronze to Silver, Gold and Platinum. Good practice for the Nepal Olympiad in Informatics. (The final round and the camp are for US students only.)
Space and Earth science
NASA Space Apps Challenge
NASA; in Nepal, the Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO)
- Who
- Anyone, of any age, in teams. Free. School students are welcome.
- When
- A weekend each autumn (November 14 and 15 in 2026), at local events: NASO has hosted them in Kathmandu and other cities since 2013.
- What
- A two-day hackathon: teams pick one of NASA’s challenges and build an app, a game or a design using NASA’s data. The best projects worldwide are judged by NASA.
Not in Nepal yet
International olympiads with no national round in Nepal, so Nepal doesn’t send a team.
Junior science
International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO)
Physics, chemistry and biology for students under 16. Nepal had a national round, the Nepal Junior Science Olympiad, until 2023; none has been held since.
Geography
International Geography Olympiad (iGeo)
A written test, a multimedia test and fieldwork, for students aged 16 to 19. Nepal has no national geography olympiad, so no team.
Earth science
International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO)
Rocks, weather, oceans and the sky, with fieldwork, for secondary school students. Nepal has no national round yet.
The olympiads are run by non-profit societies that choose Nepal’s teams, and the contests you enter yourself by non-profits and NASA; none is run as a business. Many companies also sell exams they call olympiads; we leave those out.
Dates change from year to year, so check the organizer’s website before you plan. Last checked 11 October 2026.