Ph.D Funding Opportunities at Michigan State University

Faculty in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences are now accepting applications for Ph.D. study in the areas of urban/economic geography and health/medical geography. Applicants with an interest in water and a background in statistical and geographic analyses and software are especially welcome. Funding is available on a competitive basis.

Specific focal areas/skills encouraged:

1.      Statistical analysis using Stata, SAS and/or R

2.      Geospatial statistical analysis using ArcMap, Geoda, SaTScan, QGIS

3.      Economic analyses of water availability and/or affordability

Water-health nexus with an emphasis on equity and environmental justice

The department is one of the largest geography departments in the United States and Michigan’s only geography PhD program. In 2017, the department received a national top-ten research ranking. MSU is also a Big Ten Academic Alliance Member which gives students the opportunity to take a wide range of courses at other Alliance universities. 

If interested, please send a curriculum vitae (CV) and a writing sample by December 1, 2017.

Prospective urban/economic geography students should contact Dr. Elizabeth Mack at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (www.elizabethmack.com). Prospective health/medical geography students should contact Dr. Amber Pearson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (https://msu.edu/~apearson/).

Interested applicants must apply and be admitted to the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences (http://geo.msu.edu/). The deadline for applications is December 31 to be considered for full funding and to be admitted Fall of 2018. Application instructions may be accessed via this link: (http://geo.msu.edu/graduate-information/apply/). International applicants please note: The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is required for entry into US graduate programs. Other requirements can be found by visiting the website above.

Innovation processes in rural areas

Livia Madureira This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - CETRAD, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro.
André Torre This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - INRA, University Paris Saclay.

Call for papers for a special issue of Regional Science Policy and Practice until January 15, 2018

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1757-7802 

One often consider that rural territories are not innovative. Innovation would be mainly reserved for urban spaces and in particular for big cities, as revealed by the concentration of high tech firms and clusters in an urban environment. However, this preconceived idea meets two important limits. The first one is the existence of a very successful and very innovative farming sector, to the point that agriculture only employs nowadays an increasingly small number of workers, due to technical progress, in particular in Europe and in the USA, as well as in BRICs like Brazil for example. Agriculture and forestry are also the stage for intensive agro-ecological knowledge creation towards more sustainable farming processes and practices, involving both scientists and farmers. The second is that numerous innovations are emerging in rural areas highlighting non-technological types of innovation, like organizational innovations (new forms of networks between actors, direct marketing and local markets…), social innovations (cooperatives, services to the population…) and institutional innovations (Leader Programs, local charters…) along with product (superfoods, healthcare services and renewable energy) and technological innovations (the methanation for example).

This special issue aims to make the state of the art about innovations in rural areas, by describing various experiences, and by giving solid references onto the level of rural innovation and the characteristics of the latter, which bring new knowledge about innovation and support to policies to enhance it on rural territories.

Dear member,

Journals and societies are in a position to make a significant contribution to enabling access to the data underlying the articles we publish. The sharing of data enables others to reuse experimental results and supports the creation of new work built on previous findings, improving the efficiencies of the research process and supporting the critical goals of transparency and reproducibility. The RSAI would like to hear from you how data should be shared within the regional science community.

Please share your views with us by completing this short survey. It has four questions only and will not take longer than three minutes to complete

Link to survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VDCBTM8

Assistant Professor in Housing and Property Management

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

Department of Apparel, Housing and Resource Management

We are seeking an academic year, tenure-track assistant professor with expertise in housing policy, affordability and econometrics for a position in Housing and Property Management.  The successful candidate will have the opportunity to engage in transdisciplinary research, curriculum and/or outreach initiatives with other university faculty working in Housing, Property Management and the Intelligent Infrastructure for Human-centered Communities Destination Area.

Destination Areas:Virginia Tech is building transdisciplinary teams to tackle the world’s pressing problems through research, education, and engagement.  Destination Areas provide faculty and students with new tools to identify and solve complex, 21st-century problems in which Virginia Tech already has significant strengths and can take a global leadership role.

Intelligent Infrastructure for Human-centered Communities: This Destination Area focuses its attention on the ways that people interact with one another and with their environment. Interest areas include smart, healthy, and sustainable cities and communities; transportation systems; human safety, health, and wellness; integrated energy systems; network science and engineering; public policy; and cyber-physical systems.

The successful candidate’s scholarly work and teaching should address housing policy issues, broadly defined from an economic, environmental, financial and/or social perspective.  We are interested in candidates who approach their work in an interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary manner, utilizing mixed research methodologies. A preference exists for candidates whose research, teaching and community engagement interests intersect with one or more of the areas of strength within the AHRM Department, including multifamily/rental housing, lifespan housing, housing for specialized needs, affordable housing and environmentally sustainable housing options. A passion for undergraduate teaching is important.

Responsibilities include:

• Teach undergraduate courses; the expected/standard teaching load is two/two courses per academic year.
• Develop a research program that includes refereed publications, scholarly presentations, and grantsmanship appropriate for a R1 Research University.
• Engage in the initiatives of the Intelligent Infrastructure for Human-centered Communities Destination Area.
• Advise undergraduate students.
• Provide service to the University and profession.
• Contribute to the Housing and Property Management program, including working with industry partners.
• Participate in occasional travel to attend professional conferences and meetings.
• Complete a successful criminal background check.

Qualifications include:

Required:

• Doctorate degree conferred by August 10, 2018.
• Demonstrated potential for effective teaching, scholarship productivity and grant funding.

Preferred:

• Demonstrated experience with interdisciplinary teaching and/or research in areas that align with Virginia Tech’s university-wide, multidisciplinary focus on Intelligent Infrastructure for Human-centered Communities.
• College teaching experience.
• Successful grant writing experience.
• Productivity in research publications in peer-reviewed journals.
• Willingness to develop and teach in a graduate level curriculum.

The starting date for the position is August 10, 2018. The applicant must have an earned doctorate degree in a housing or property management related field by the position starting date. Review of applications will begin February 1, 2018.  The review will continue until a suitable candidate is appointed from a diverse pool of applicants.  Salary is dependent on qualifications.

To Apply

To apply, go to http://www.jobs.vt.edu  posting #TR0170158and complete the on-line application. You will be asked to supply brief demographic information and to upload a cover letter (describing qualifications and relevant experience in teaching and research or creative scholarship), your vita, and provide contact information for three (3) references.  If you have specific questions about the position, please contact Dr. Kathleen Parrott, Chair, Search Committee at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  If you are an individual with a disability and desire accommodation, please contact Dianna Givens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, or veteran status; or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees, or applicants; or any other basis protected by law. (http://www.vt.edu/about/equal-opportunity.html).  For inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies, contact the Office of Equity and Access at 540-231-2010 or Virginia Tech, North End Center, Suite 2300 (0318), 300 Turner St. NW, Blacksburg, VA 24061.  Virginia Tech’s Dual Career Program is available for faculty with a spouse or partner considering employment at the University.  Further information is available at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 540-231-9331. 

On the 11^th and 12^th of October 2017 took place in Rabat the 2º Congress of Regional Science Association of Morocco with the general theme “The Ambition of Sustainability from the Perspective of Territorial Complexity and Society of Risks”. With 85 participants, 89 presentations and 4 key speakers the Congress was a remarkable signal of the vitality of the Moroccan Regional Science Association and of the importance of regional science in Morocco and in Africa. Participants come from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameron, Benin, France, Portugal and Brazil, female and male, young and mature, rooted in the disciplines that compose regional science (economics, transport, agriculture, environment, planning and policy) and focusing the reality with sound methods, clear expositions and interesting results for the global literature on resilience and risk management; indicators of sustainable development; adaptation to climate change;  territorial governance and regional development; ecosystem services; water and energy issues; and agriculture and food security.

The key speakers talked on stimulating topics: Reconversion of Mining Towns by Abdelaziz Adidi, Director de the Institute for Land Use Planning and Urbanism; Research Questions for Africa by Tomaz Ponce Dentinho from the University of Azores; Adaptive tools to address coastal risks by Maria Snoussi from the University Mohamed V in Rabat; and Trade in Water : constraints and perspectives by Eduardo Haddad from the University of São Paulo.

Next year, the third Congress of the Regional Science Association of Morocco will be in the North of the country, in Tangier or Tétuan. There an increasing number of participants are expected not only from Morocco and Africa but also from nearby European countries like Spain, Portugal and France. There are also sound plans to organize a regional science meeting in Tunes and within two years one more Regional Science Conference in South Africa. Soon the African Network of Regional Science Associations will be created to promote the diffusion of regional science in Africa.

Join the conversation at the LSE about globalisation, foreign direct investments and local development. Check out the new LSE blog http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gild/

Latest research from the new LSE blog on globalisation, FDI and local development, delivered directly to you by email: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gild/subscribe-by-email/

Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science

Special Issue: Spatial Analysis and Modeling

A majority of socio-economic phenomena are closely related to the geographic location and context where they occur. This underscores the need to analyze spatial processes, spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity associated with these phenomena by means of spatially explicit models. Our understanding of urban and regional systems is uniquely enhanced by spatial analysis and modeling. In this special issue, we call for papers on a range of cutting edge issues of spatial analysis and modeling of relevance to urban and regional science. We welcome both theoretical developments of models and empirical applications. From the theoretical point of view, spatial models have to be general enough to be applicable to a number of spatial phenomena, but at the same time, the models should be flexible enough to be implemented to specific problems. From the empirical point of view, the application of spatial models should shed light on meaningful actual phenomena and their underlining processes. Economic and social issues in Asia-Pacific regions are becoming increasingly compelling and yet, spatial models that can be brought to bear on enhancing our understanding these issues and our ability to effectively alleviate them remain in their developing stage. We envision this special issue as a major contribution towards the promotion of this development.

Please follow the ‘Instructions for Authors’ www.springer.com/journal/41685 in preparing your manuscript. For the proper tracking of submissions, select the special feature titled Spatial Analysis and Modelling at the “Select Article Type” stage during the submission https://www.editorialmanager.com/ajrs/default.aspx. Due date: September 30, 2018.

Yasushi Asami, The University of Tokyo

Jean-Claude Thill, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The position is available from January 1, 2018 for a period of one year.

The CESAER [1] recruits a postdoctoral scholar for research in regional and urban economics, who must have proven skills in the application of econometric methods. The PostDoc will contribute to a research program for the Société du Grand Paris, with two economists, three geographers, two physicians and one urban planner. The successful candidate will estimate how density changes (in response to transportation network changes) affect the costs of providing infrastructures and public services, with particular attention to causality.

Applicants are expected to have completed (or being close to completing) a Ph.D. in Economics and to have a strong background in microeconometrics and programming in R. Some proficiency in regional and urban economics and/or Geographic Information Systems would be appreciated.

Interested candidates should send their applications (CV, names of two potential references, the job market paper, copies of Master’s and Ph.D. certificates and a grade transcript, if available) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Deadline for applications: November 1, 2017

For further information, applicants can contact:

The position is available from January 1, 2018 for a period of one year.

The CESAER^[1] recruits a postdoctoral scholar for research in regional economics, who must have proven skills in the application of econometric methods. The PostDoc will contribute to a H2020 research program IMAJINE (Integrative Mechanisms for Addressing Spatial Justice and Territorial Inequalities in Europe) that aims to formulate new integrative policy mechanisms to enable European, national and regional government agencies to more effectively address territorial inequalities within the European Union. The successful candidate will apply the recent advances in spatio-temporal exploratory spatial data analysis to perform a detailed analysis of the space-time distribution of a large set of local socio-economic indicators. She/he will also use quantile decomposition methods to assess spatial income distributions and will participate to the elaboration of a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of public policies to reduce regional disparities.

Applicants are expected to have completed (or being close to completing) a Ph.D. in Economics and to have a strong background in spatial econometrics, regional economics and programming in R. Some proficiency in microeconometrics and/or Geographic Information Systems would be appreciated.

Interested candidates should send their applications (CV, names of two potential references, the job market paper, copies of Master’s and Ph.D. certificates and a grade transcript, if available) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Deadline for applications: November 1, 2017