Nepal’s Historic First Award in the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL): Pragyan Devkota Receives ‘Honourable Mention’

September 5, Kathmandu.

Nepal has achieved a new historic success on the platform of the International Science Olympiad. At the 23rd International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL 2026) held in Bucharest, Romania, Nepali student Pragyan Devkota won the country’s first-ever award in the history of this competition by achieving an Honourable Mention.

Competing with top high school students from around the world, Devkota achieved this historic accomplishment in the individual category.

Excellent Performance by Four-Member Nepali Team on the World Stage

Nepal was represented by a four-member national team in this competition. The other talented students participating in the team were:

• Pragyan Devkota (Honourable Mention winner)

• Pratyush Raj Jha

• Ayas Shrestha

• Mikah Rana

They competed with the world’s top analytical talents in both individual and team categories.

The Result of a Decade-Long Effort and Vision

This international success for Nepal is the result of a long-term campaign that began in 2017 when Chandan Gupta laid the foundation for the Linguistics Olympiad in Nepal.

“Achieving success on an international platform like IOL is the result of nearly a decade of continuous hard work,” said Chandan Gupta, Co-founder and Co-chair of the Himalayan Computational, Linguistic, and AI Olympiad in Nepal (HLON). “In the initial years, we only worked to establish this platform; but this year, our students have proven that they can compete with the world’s best analytical talents.”

Preparation and Leadership of the Nepali Team

Transparent Selection Process: The national team was selected through a multi-stage competition of the Himalayan Linguistics Olympiad Nepal (HLON), which was open to high school students across the country.

Academic Guidance: Academic advisor Dr. Balaram Prasai, who has been supporting the Linguistics Olympiad since its inception, provided the team’s preparation and academic guidance.

Management and Leadership: Team leader Santosh Prasad Sah was responsible for student mentorship, technical preparation, visa, and international travel management.

The Future of AI, NLP, and Computational Linguistics in Nepal

Linguistics competitions are not limited to language alone, but are based on testing Pattern Recognition, Structural Reasoning, and mathematical analytical ability.

According to HLON, such competitions will play a significant role in building technical and digital human resources in Nepal:

1. Natural Language Processing – NLP

2. Computational Linguistics

3. Artificial Intelligence – AI

The upcoming edition of the National Linguistics Olympiad will commence this year under the BRAIN Foundation, which oversees national linguistics and artificial intelligence Olympiad programs in Nepal.

Key Details and Summary

What is the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL)?

The International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) is one of the 13 major international science Olympiads organized for high school students. Held annually since 2003, this competition tests analytical skills through language-based logic and puzzles, without requiring prior linguistic knowledge.

For more: Pragyan Devkota Secures First-Ever Award