Mera Glacier in Nepal has been monitored for mass balance since 2007, it has thus the longest continuous record of mass balance in Nepal. The length of the measurement series (17 years) and the deployment of a network of automatic weather stations lead to unique opportunities to study high altitude glaciological processes in the Himalaya. In the recent years, collaborative efforts between the French Institute for sustainable development (IRD) and Tribhuvan University in Nepal lead to the establishment of an International Joint Laboratory (IJL), called Water HIMAL. Along with the establishment of the IJL, we have implemented a capacity building program that allows the organization of a two-week annual winter school that gathers 30 students of different backgrounds from various institutions in Nepal and from the region; among them 10-15 students participate in a field trip to the Khumbu region of Nepal, and get trained in field monitoring techniques by our team. Within this framework, a wealth of scientific questions were addressed jointly, notably regarding the sensitivity of Mera Glacier to meteorological variables, precipitation gradients and glacier snowline monitoring using optical and radar data. Here we review some of these recent advances.