BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:O39 - KS-AIC 2025: A Student-Led Astronomy Academic Conference for Developing Young Researchers and Astronomy Communication Leaders in Rural Thailand. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261125T030000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261125T031500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261112T144928Z UID:indico-contribution-880@indico.narit.or.th DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kanokkan Ninkamhaeng (Khuruprachasan School\, Uthai Thani Chai Nat Secondary Educational Service Area Office\, Thailand)\, Wit chaphon puangkaew (Khuruprachasan School\, Uthai Thani Chai Nat Secondary Educational Service Area Office\, Thailand)\, Phongpathapee Thaikiew (Kur uprachasan School\, Secondary Educational Service Area Office Uthai Thani Chai Nat\, Thailand)\nAstronomy education in schools should not be limited to the transmission of content in the classroom. It should provide studen ts with opportunities to ask scientific questions\, construct knowledge\, present their work\, receive academic feedback\, and communicate astronomy to others in meaningful ways. This abstract presents KS-AIC 2025: K.S. As tronomical Innovation Conference – Student Academic Conference 2025\, a school-based student astronomy academic conference developed at Khuruprach asan School\, Chainat\, Thailand. The conference was co-designed and imple mented by teacher advisors\, student leaders\, and network schools\, with the aim of transforming students from “knowledge receivers” into “kn owledge creators” and developing them as young researchers\, science com municators\, and astronomy activity leaders in a rural school context.\nFr om the perspective of student co-founders and student organizers\, KS-AIC 2025 was not merely a competition or a project presentation platform. Rath er\, it functioned as a participatory learning space in which students pla yed active roles in developing the activity concept\, preparing research p rojects\, coordinating the event\, organizing exhibitions\, presenting ora l and poster sessions\, facilitating learning stations\, communicating wit h participants\, and sharing astronomy knowledge with peers and students f rom network schools. Through this process\, students learned to see themse lves not only as learners\, but also as creators\, communicators\, collabo rators\, and contributors to the scientific learning community.\nKS-AIC 20 25 consisted of prior project selection\, Oral Presentation and Poster Pre sentation sessions\, academic feedback from expert committees\, astronomy workshops and games\, planetarium-based learning\, Stellarium activities\, and real-sky observations using naked-eye observation and telescopes. The activities were supported by network schools\, guest speakers\, astronomi cal equipment\, and astronomy education partners. The program was designed to connect academic learning with authentic scientific experiences and to make astronomy learning accessible\, engaging\, and meaningful for studen ts at different levels.\nThe implementation resulted in 53 selected studen t teams\, including 25 oral presentation teams and 28 poster presentation teams\, with more than 400 participants from Khuruprachasan School and sev en network schools. In addition\, student projects and student leaders fro m KS-AIC were further extended into six volunteer astronomy camps for prim ary network schools\, reaching at least 1\,090 participants. These outcome s demonstrate that a student academic conference can serve as an effective mechanism for expanding astronomy learning from secondary schools to prim ary schools and broader educational communities.\nThe results indicate tha t KS-AIC 2025 promoted students’ analytical thinking\, scientific inquir y\, academic communication\, innovation\, leadership\, teamwork\, and publ ic-mindedness. It also strengthened students’ confidence in asking scien tific questions\, explaining scientific information\, receiving expert fee dback\, and communicating astronomy to learners and the public in meaningf ul ways. The activity demonstrates the potential of student-centered astro nomy education and shows that rural schools can develop systematic\, meani ngful\, and scalable academic platforms.\nKS-AIC 2025 therefore serves as a model of a student-led astronomy academic conference that not only devel ops students as young researchers\, but also fosters a culture of learning \, knowledge sharing\, and astronomy communication for society. The model aligns with international goals in astronomy education by promoting studen t participation\, equitable access to astronomy learning\, and youth leade rship in public science communication.\n**Keywords:** student academic con ference\, astronomy education\, young researchers\, science communication\ , student leadership\, rural school\, participatory learning\n\nhttps://in dico.narit.or.th/event/238/contributions/880/ LOCATION:Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu Resort Ballroom III URL:https://indico.narit.or.th/event/238/contributions/880/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR