Kathmandu symposia on Advanced Materials (KαSAM), an initiative of Nepal Polymer Institute (NPI), a bi-annual series of international conferences undertaken to establish and strengthen the networking and collaborations between materials scientists from Nepal and other South Asian Countries with those from the rest of the globe. The objective of KαSAM is to provide a platform for discussion and share knowledge and ideas for the materials scientists on recent advances, challenges, and opportunities in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). Polymers, nanomaterials, and nano-biomaterials have been an integral part of KαSAM endeavors.

The previous KαSAMs were held in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. The 6^th international conference KαSAM-2026 will be organized on October 29-31, 2026 in Pokhara, Nepal. The themes of the conference comprise ‘Materials Design, Structure-Properties Correlations; Polymer Technologies, Bio-nanomaterials, Tissue Engineering; Smart and Functional Materials; Green Technology, Circular Economy, Sustainability; and Data Science, GIS, Computational Techniques’, providing a scientific platform for the scholars from academia and industries. The event will be accompanied by a 1 day ‘Short Course’ on October 29, 2026, targeted to the students, young and early career scientists who will be offered an overview of ‘Recent Advances in Functional Materials Synthesis and Characterization. KαSAM provides excellent networking among senior scientists, young researchers, students, and experts from academia as well as from industries.

During the conference, there will be a Joint “Nepal-India Symposium on Materials Science and Engineering” and “Young Scientists Forum” targeted to building cross-disciplinary young researchers in the country.