9th Apprenticeship Fair 2026
The 9th Apprenticeship Fair 2026 was held on 25 August 2026 to recruit apprentices for various thematic areas of IIDS.
A total of 72 candidates were scheduled for interviews. Of these:
- 58 candidates attended the interviews.
- 14 candidates were no-shows.
- 3 interviews were conducted virtually.
Following the selection process, 11 apprentices were onboarded from this recruitment cycle.
The new cohort had its Orientation Program on 7 September 2026.
Apprentices Onboarded through the 9th Apprenticeship Fair
| S.N. | Name | Placement/Theme | Joining Date |
| 1 | Aarya Paudel | Center for Economic Policy | 14 September 2026 |
| 2 | Bigul Sapkota | Center for Economic Policy | 11 September 2026 |
| 3 | Ayush Poudyal | Center for Economic Policy | 7 September 2026 |
| 4 | Chinar Thapa | Center for Economic Policy | 7 September 2026 |
| 5 | Sabina Pun | Agriculture | 7 October 2026* |
| 6 | Subhash Sagar Mahesh Dhakal | Center for Human Assets – Data Analysis and Quantitative Research | 7 September 2026 |
| 7 | Rehan Pradhan | Center for Human Assets – Education Content and Pedagogy | 7 September 2026 |
| 8 | Gayatri Kumari Chaudhary | Center for Human Assets – Education Content and Pedagogy | 7 September 2026 |
| 9 | Ayusha Koirala | Digital Transformation | 7 September 2026 |
| 10 | Dipika Bhusal | Graphic Design | 7 September 2026 |
| 11 | Shreya Yonjan | Geostrategic Affairs | 7 September 2026 |
*Sabina Pun is selected through the 9th Apprenticeship Fair but will formally join on 7 October 2026.
Summary of New Recruitment
The recruitment activities during FY 2083/84 can be summarized as follows:
| Recruitment Category | Applications/Candidates | Interviewed/Attended | Onboarded |
| Center for Environment and Climate Change | 98 applications | 13 shortlisted / 12 attended | 3 |
| 9th Apprenticeship Fair | 72 scheduled | 58 attended | 11 |
| Other recruitment | — | — | 1 |
| Total | *170 applications/candidates ** | — | 15 |
*The figure of 170 combines the 98 applications received by the Center for Environment and Climate Change with the 72 candidates scheduled for the 9th Apprenticeship Fair; these represent different recruitment pools and should not be interpreted as 170 unique applicants.
- Apprenticeship Placement by Thematic Area
Based on the current onboarding information, apprentices are distributed across the following areas:
| Thematic Area | Number of Apprentices |
| Center for Economic Policy | 4 |
| Center for Environment and Climate Change | 3 |
| Center for Human Assets – Education Content and Pedagogy | 2 |
| Center for Human Assets – Data Analysis and Quantitative Research | 1 |
| Digital Transformation | 1 |
| Graphic Design | 1 |
| Geostrategic Affairs | 1 |
| Agriculture | 1 |
| Social Media | 1 |
| New/FY 2083/84 intake | 15 |
In addition, 3 apprentices from earlier recruitment cycles—Ashila Gurung, Suchita Khadka, and Dibya Karki—continued into FY 2083/84.
- Current Apprenticeship Status as of 16 September 2026
As of 31 Bhadra 2083 (16 September 2026), the program has 18 apprentices onboarded/active.
The calculation is:
- 3 continuing apprentices: Ashila Gurung, Suchita Khadka, Dibya Karki
- 4 apprentices recruited before the 9th Fair: Subhanga Khanal, Malisha Shrestha, Pragya Raut, Arya Bashyal
- 10 apprentices from the 9th Fair who have already joined
- 1 selected apprentice, Sabina Pun, is scheduled to join on 7 October 2026 and is therefore not yet included in the current active count
Thus:
3 + 4 + 10 + 1 future joining = 18 selected apprentices, of whom 17 are currently onboarded, and 1 is scheduled to join.
Note: Based strictly on the joining dates provided, the current active/onboarded count on 16 September 2026 is 17, while the total number of selected apprentices, including Sabina Pun’s future joining, is 18.
Orientation Program
The newly recruited cohort from the 9th Apprenticeship Fair commenced its onboarding process in September 2026.
An Orientation Program was conducted on 7 September 2026 for the new cohort. The orientation introduced the apprentices to the Institute, its work areas, organizational structure, thematic centers, workplace expectations, and the Apprenticeship Program.
The standard working hours for the new cohort are:
Monday–Friday | 11:00 AM–5:00 PM
New apprentices were also requested to bring their personal laptops for their apprenticeship assignments and day-to-day work.