Newton STFC-NARIT: Thai-UK Python+Astronomy Summer Schools (ThaiPASS): A STEM outreach project on Python with applications to data-driven astronomy

Project ThaiPASS（Thai-UK Python+Astronomy Summer School）是一个由E.A.米尔恩天体物理学中心（英国船体大学）和基础研究所（泰国纳瑞宣大学），与泰国国家天文研究所（NARIT）合作。每个ThaiPASS是一个全寄宿暑期学校，针对16-18岁左右的泰国中学生。学生将接受Python的科学计算培训，Python是增长最快的开源编程语言之一，也是从就业角度来看最理想的语言之一。学生将学习使用Python通过天文学媒介处理数据，这是最鼓舞人心和最具影响力的STEM推动者之一。在为期5天的课程中，来自英国的专业天文学家将指导学生完成一系列讲座和实践任务，涉及处理天文数据和制作天文图像和视频等视觉输出。学生将离开暑期学校，对数据科学在现代研究中的作用有一个新的视角，并将受到启发，继续学习暑期学校范围和时间范围之外的编码。暑期学校还将包括一个“大学与职业”日，向学生介绍如何在大学阶段进一步学习STEM科目并将其作为职业。ThaiPASS项目将解决泰国在科学和信息通信技术教育方面的许多挑战，泰国远远落后于其他正在摆脱中等收入陷阱的国家。在ThaiPASS，我们将把STFC资助的科学带给新的观众，他们可能没有机会获得这样的培训。在ThaiPASS开发的技能是当前的，相关的，很容易转移到广泛的工业和学术应用。来自船体的英国团队特别理解高质量STEM推广的重要性：船体是英国最贫困的城市之一，有很大一部分学校表现不佳。然而，通过我们以前的外联工作，（在过去的3年中，超过150个科学推广活动，主要是在船体和约克郡地区），我们亲眼目睹了STEM教育可以为年轻人带来的积极转变，他们可能不会考虑在大学和职业中从事科学。近年来，泰国已经成为天体物理学研究的新兴参与者，这要归功于NARIT，Naresuan的新一代国际公认的研究人员。对ThaiPASS项目的投资将是朝着建立强大而持久的泰英协同作用迈出的一小步，这可以很容易地扩展到天体物理学研究和进一步推广活动的未来合作中。

Project ThaiPASS (Thai-UK Python+Astronomy Summer School) is a human-capacity building STEM outreach project proposed jointly by the E.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics (University of Hull, UK) and the Institute of Fundamental Study (Naresuan University, Thailand), with partnership from the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT). Each ThaiPASS is a full-board summer school aimed at Thai secondary school students age around 16-18. Students will receive training in scientific computing in Python, one of the fastest growing open-source programming languages and one of the most desirable from an employability perspective. Students will learn to use Python to handle data via the medium of astronomy, which is one of the most inspiring and high-impact STEM enablers. Over a 5-day course, professional astronomers from the UK will guide students through a series of lectures and hands-on tasks involving handling astronomical data and producing visual output such as astronomical images and videos. Students will leave the summer school with a new perspective on the role of data science in modern reserach, and will be inspired to continue to learn coding beyond the scope and time-scale of the summer school. The summer school will also include a "university and career" day to inform students on how STEM subjects can be taken further at university level and as a career.The ThaiPASS project will address many of the challenges in science and ICT education in Thailand, which has fallen far behind other countries emerging out of the middle-income trap. At ThaiPASS, we will bring STFC-funded science to new audiences who may not have the opportunity to access such training otherwise. The skills developed at ThaiPASS are current, relevant and easily transferable to a wide range of industrial and academic applications. The UK team from Hull particularly understand the importance of high-quality STEM outreach: Hull is one of the most impoverished cities in the UK with a large proportion of under-performing schools. However, through our previous outreach work (over 150 science outreach events in the past 3 years, mostly in Hull and the Yorkshire region), we have witnessed first-hand the positive transformation STEM education can make for young people who might not have otherwise considered taking up science at University and as a career.In recent years, Thailand has established itself as an emerging player in astrophysics research thanks to a new generation of internationally recognised researchers at NARIT, Naresuan. Chulalongkorn, Suranaree etc. Investment in the ThaiPASS project will be a small but significant step towards forging a strong and lasting Thai-UK synergy, which can easily spin off into future collaborations in astrophysics research and further outreach activities.