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) 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.

The most important impacts that will be delivered by ThaiPASS are:
1) Using STFC-funded science to reach out to new audiences and build human capacity.
2) Training in programming and data-handling skills, which are highly transferable and employable.
3) STEM enabling via the medium of astronomy.
These impacts resonate strongly with the goals of Newton Fund, particularly those spelt out in the STFC-NARIT MOU.

Python is a highly desirable programming skill to a wide range of employers, especially those in the ICT and industrial sectors. The requirement for Python skills has grown rapidly in recent years, overtaking traditionally popular languages such as C++. Although the Python is the language of choice for ThaiPASS, it is used really as a medium to convey the main principles of scientific programming and data handling, so that skills learnt at ThaiPASS can be easily translated to any programming languages the participants may take up in the future.

A high-impact legacy of the ThaiPASS project is for a similar summer school to be held in the UK, particularly in Hull, which remains one of the most impoverished cities in the UK with a high number of underperforming schools. The teaching material developed for ThaiPASS can be adapted to organise a "UKPASS" targeting schools in the north of the UK and hosted by the University of Hull. The Physics group at Hull (particularly the Milne Centre) has a strong track-record of commitment to outreach within the Yorkshire region and beyond - with 150 outreach events held in the past 3 years, including outreach talks in schools, at science festivals and on BBC radio (see the full list at http://www.milne.hull.ac.uk/#events).

Another legacy of the ThaiPASS project is the establishment of a strong link between the E.A.Milne Centre and the Thai partner institutions, namely, Naresuan and NARIT, with a view to involve more Thai institutions in the future. Although ThaiPASS focuses purely on outreach, the synergy between the Thai and UK team could spin off into collaborative research projects in astrophysics, as there are shared research interests amongst researchers at Hull and Naresuan. The Thai-UK links forged via ThaiPASS also have the potential to develop into further joint workshops, conferences, outreach events and international teaching collaborations (e.g. postgraduate student exchanges or visiting lectureships).