Three-year fully-funded studentship: ‘Understanding career pathways and their outcomes’

Potential PhD students are encouraged to apply for this prestigious three year studentship funded by the ESRC's Scottish Graduate School of Social Science and co-funded by Skills Development Scotland. The student will examine connections between different career pathways and their outcomes at a later life stage in the UK with a special focus being on Scotland. This is a timely and highly relevant topic as employment careers in Scotland and elsewhere are becoming more varied and complex whereas robust evidence on the outcomes of career pathways is missing.

This research will use longitudinal data. Knowledge of longitudinal data analysis is not a pre-condition for this application but candidates must have strong quantitative backgrounds. It is expected that applicants have obtained at least a 2.1 honours degree and will have completed a Masters level qualification in a relevant social science discipline (for example, Human Geography, Sociology, Social Statistics).

This PhD research will be undertaken in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development at the renowned University of St Andrews. The student will be jointly supervised by Dr Darja Reuschke and Dr Zhiqiang Feng. The studentship will cover UK/EU tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend at Research Council rates (approximately £13,000). Funding will be for 3 years of full-time study, starting date in October 2014.

All interested candidates should send a full CV and a proposal of a maximum of three pages outlining why they find this topic of interest and why their skills are a good match for the project.

Please send applications to Mrs Helen Olaez (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by Monday, 14 July 2014. A short-list of candidates will be interviewed prior to the award being made: interviews are expected to take place in late July 2014. The selected candidate will also need to be approved by the Scottish Graduate School-Doctoral Training Centre (http://www.socsciscotland.ac.uk/).

Please contact Dr Darja Reuschke (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Dr Zhiqiang Feng (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to discuss any issues in relation to the studentship.

Dear colleague,

last month the European Regional Science Association (ERSA) launched its new journal REGION.

With this email we, the editorial team of REGION, invite you to submit your research to REGION via http://region.ersa.org. REGION is also looking for proposals for special issues. If you would like to organize a special issue in REGION, please contact the managing editor, Roberto Patuelli, or another member of the editorial team.

The motivation for REGION, its orientation, structure, and policy is described in detail in the editorial published in the first issue (see http://openjournals.wu.ac.at/ojs/index.php/region/article/view/9).

Therefore, we would like to only highlight a few important points here:

 * REGION is a peer-reviewed open access journal which is free for readers as well as for authors.

 * REGION is supported by a large scientific organization (ERSA) and by a very prestigeous editorial board

(see http://openjournals.wu.ac.at/ojs/index.php/region/about/displayMembership/1).

 * Because of its electronic format, REGION is not confined by page limits and can therefore publish  papers very quickly.

 * The electronic format also allows for the integration of all forms of electronic media.

 * As a special service to students and young researchers REGION offers a "Young Scholar Letters" section, which publishes short (about 3000 words) articles and summaries of

research done by colleagues not older than 33 years.

With the support of ERSA, its sections and its members we intend to develop REGION into one of the top journals in regional science. We invite you and your students to become part of this process and look forward to your submissions and special issue proposals.

Kind regards

REGION editorial team

Julia Koschinsky <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>, Sierdjan Koster <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>, Roberto Patuelli <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>, Vicente Royuela <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>, Vassilis Tselios

<This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

The Australia and New Zealand Regional Science Association is calling for papers to be presented at its 38th Annual Conference.

The conference will be held at the Novotel Hotel in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1-4 December 2014.

The theme is Regions in Recovery, but ANZRSAI welcomes papers on any aspect of regional science.

The closing date for abstract submissions is 1 October 2014.

Further information can be found at www.anzrsai.org. 

Dear Sir or Madam

we are pleased to announce that due to the high interest, the deadline for abstracts submission for the 5th Central European Conference in Regional Science – CERS, which will be held in Košice, October 5th – 8th, 2014 has been EXTENDED to 15, June 2014. 

If you are still considering the conference there are several reasons why you should attend the CERS conference:

• Very interesting opening and key-note lectures
• Special Session: Future challenges of regional development in the V4 regionwith session chairDaniel Klimovský, Department of Regional Science and Management, Faculty of Economics, TU Košice and Jan Stejskal, University of Pardubice. The participants will discuss the challenges facing the V4 countries and contribute to debate on expectations linked to their further development. Obviously, discussants and contributors from outside of the V4 countries are welcome, too.
• Special Session: Evolution, Institutions and Economic Transformation with session chair Simone Strambach organised by Štefan Rehák, Department of Public Administration and Regional Development, University of Economics in Bratislava and Balazs Lengyel, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Please find further details in the attachment.
• Other special sessions are in preparation and will be announced soon.
  • Great opportunity to create working relationships and co-operation at the interregional or cross-border level.
  • Conference proceedings will be submitted to CPCI (Conference Proceedings Citation Index, an integrated index within Web of Science, Thomson Reuters).
  • Opportunity to visit Košice awarded the prestigious title of European Capital of Culture 2013. During the conference there will be excursion around new cultural infrastructure in Košice. For more information see: http://www.cers.tuke.sk/index.php/social-activities
  • Opportunity to visit Košice where Europe´s oldest marathon was born. The oldest European Košice Peace Marathon, 5 th October celebrates this year the 90th anniversary. For more information and registration see: http://www.kosicemarathon.com/en/ Full, half, mini and inline marathon is possible for those interested to combine research and sports activities.

Beatriz Garcia, Institute of Cultural Capital, Liverpool, United Kingdom:

„30 Years of the European Capital of Culture Programme. Success Strategies and Long Term Effects. “

Andrés Rodriguez-Pose: London School of Economics, United Kingdom:

„Government quality and the economic returns of transport infrastructure investment in European region.“

Peter Nijkamp and Karima Kourtit, Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Simone Strambach: Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany

Michal Hladký, Košice – European Capital of Culture 2013, n.o., Slovakia

Please find further details in the attachment. More information about the conference can be found at the conference website http://www.cers.tuke.sk/

If you didn’t submit Abstract yet, we encourage you to take this opportunity. If you wish to register please go to the section Registration http://www.cers.tuke.sk/index.php/registration. Abstract must be submitted electronically using option "Your submissions" in the registration system.

Further distribution of this announcement to the relevant target group would be highly appreciated.

We look forward to meeting you at the conference

Organising Team, CERS 2014

Call for submissions

2014 RSAI Best Dissertation in Regional Science

The Regional Science Association International (RSAI) invites submissions for the annual competition for the best doctoral dissertation in regional science. Regional science is an interdisciplinary field concerned with theory, method, and application of regional, urban and rural, geographic and spatial investigations and analyses.

The winner will be decided by the selection committee and will receive a cash award of 750 Euros. Award announcements will be made at the North American Meetings of the RSAI, where participants in the competition are strongly encouraged to be present. The competition is held annually. The Selection Committee reserves the right to not make an award. Decisions made by the Selection Committee are final.

Eligibility:

1. A dissertation completed in any Ph.D. program in any country is eligible,
2. A dissertation written in English,
3. A dissertation successfully defended, with official graduation date between July 1st 2013 and June 30th 2014,
4. A dissertation on a single or multiple general regional science topics. The selection committee reserves the right to determine whether a dissertation is relevant to the field of regional science. 

Application (in either PDF or MS Word format):

1. A two-page curriculum vita;
2. A letter of support and nomination from the major professor (also known as dissertation committee chairperson or supervisor) on stationary paper and with signature;
3. The dissertation.

Applications should be submitted electrically by July 31, 2014 to the Selection Committee Chair, Dr. Shaoming Cheng (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Large submissions can be uploaded to a cloud file-sharing site. Questions regarding the dissertation competition may be sent to him too. 

The Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) – Regional Economics Workshop is organized in honor of Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and member of WIFO’s Scientific Board. Prof. Hewings has published numerous scientific contributions in fields like economics, economic geography, urban and regional planning, input-output analysis and others, and is always eager to share his knowledge and give advice to younger scholars.

This year’s workshop will focus on topics around sustainable regional growth and cohesion. Over the past years an intensive discussion emerged focusing on the nexus between growth, regional disparities and sustainability. Do strategies promoting sustainable growth at the national level necessarily decrease regional inequalities or is it feasible to accomplish both sustainable growth and regional equity goals at the same time? This question has also been central to the research carried out within WWWforEurope, a four year research project within the 7th Framework Programme funded by the European Commission under the lead of WIFO.

The workshop aims at bringing together researchers from various fields of economics working mainly at the regional level to discuss ideas and exchange knowledge. Besides papers related to the overall theme of the workshop, sustainable regional growth and cohesion, contributions on other relevant topics in the field of regional economics are also welcome. Morover it should be emphasized that the workshop also intends to attract contributions characterized as “work in progress” and those from young researchers.

The workshop will be held at WIFO in Vienna. There are no fees for participants of the workshop. All papers presented may be published in the WIFO Working Paper series.

Abstracts of papers and/or full papers intended for presentation should be prepared in PDF-format and be sent to Oliver Fritz at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Deadlines:
• Submission of abstracts: June 10, 2014
• Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2014

After numerousrequeststo expandsignificantlythe deadline for submission ofabstracts will proceedtofix iton May 31.

All information at: http://www.reunionesdeestudiosregionales.org/Home-82-home

Dear colleagues,

We have now extended the deadlines for submission of papers for the INFER Workshop in Urban and Regional Economics until May 20th 2014. To submit a paper to the workshop, please send a complete version in pdf format to the email address "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." with the subject "Submission to the INFER Workshop in Urban and Regional Economics". The front page of the document should include the title, authors, affiliations, contact details, and a short abstract. Notification of acceptance/rejection should be received by June 16th 2014.

You will find all the details at http://events.urv.cat/go/infer-workshop.

Kind regards,

Josep-Maria Arauzo-Carod & Miguel Manjón-Antolín

Universitat Rovira i Virgili & CREIP

16th Annual BIOECON Conference
Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainability

21-23 September 2014
Kings College, Cambridge
United Kingdom

Hosted by the London School of Economics, the Graduate Institute-Geneva and University of Cambridge
Supported by the Founding Partners of the BIOECON Network: UNEP, IUCN, FEEM, IHEID and The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (LSE)
With the contribution of The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

The BIOECON Partners are pleased to announce theSixteenth Annual International BIOECON conference on the theme of "Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainability". The conference will be held once again on the premises ofKings College Cambridge, England on the 22nd -23rd September 2014. The conference will be of interest to both researchers and policy makers working on issues broadly in the area of biodiversity, ecosystem services, sustainable development and natural capital, in both developed and developing countries.

The conference takes a broad interest in the area of resource management, development and conservation, including but not limited to: the role of biodiversity and ecosystem services in economic development, plant genetic resources and food security issues, deforestation and development, fisheries and institutional adaptation, development and conservation, wildlife conservation, and international trade and regulation. The conference will have sessions on economic development, growth and biodiversity conservation, as well as on institutions and institutional change pertaining to the management of living resources.

Papers are specially invited on the themes of:

- Natural capital and wealth accounting
- Policy evaluation of biodiversity-related policies
- Institutional frameworks for resource conservation (property rights, market instruments etc.)
- Valuation methodology and its application to biodiversity conservation
- Behavioural economics in biodiversity policy design - Evaluation of conservation policy successes and failures
- Issues of governance and management of natural resources in developing countries
- Development, growth and resource constraints, especially in relation to food security
- Resources management, distribution, development, poverty alleviation
- Institution-building for provision of global public goods

In addition, two expert policy panelswill be held related to this theme. The first will focus on green growth and natural capital accounting as they pertain to biodiversity and ecosystem services. The second will rise to the challenge raised by a keynote speaker in last year's BIOECON conference in focussing on the impact of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystems and the appropriate policy response.

Keynote speakersfor the 16th BIOECON Conference are:

Professor Christian Gollier, Toulouse School of Economics
Professor James Salzman, Duke University

Only complete papers may be submitted for presentation within the conference. Electronic copies should be sent to Kristine Kjeldsen (atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) no later than31st May 2014.Please include Abstract, JEL Codes and Keywords with your submission.Acceptance of papers will be notified by email by 2nd June 2014.

It is also possible to submit 3-4 papers together as a suggested "session" under one of the themes indicated above. The Scientific Partners reserve the right to accept papers on an individual basis, so it is possible that even when a session is not accepted, individual papers within the session might be so.

The conference will open with a reception at Kings College on early evening of Sunday 21st of September. Conference sessions will commence on the morning of the 22nd of September and conclude on the afternoon of the 23rd of September. The conference banquet will take place at the main Dining Hall of Kings College on the evening of the 22nd of September.

Selected presenters will be invited to register one presenter for the conference at the "invited presenter" rate. The invited presenter rate consists of a 100 Euroregistration feethat will cover the costs of 2 nights single accommodation, reception, lunches, and conference banquet. (Anything other than single accommodation must be provided outside of Kings College, and is at the expense of the participant. Additional guests may be registered for the Conference Banquet at the additional cost of 50 Euros per guest.) There is a 200 Euro registration fee for all other participants that will include the banquet, lunches and refreshments, but not accommodation. There is a 100 Euro registration fee for day-participants (that includes lunches and refreshments but not lodging and the conference banquet). All other questions regarding fees, registrations and accommodation should be sent toThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Registration will open on 2nd June 2014. Registrations for conference presenters are due by 20th June 2014. Registration for all other participants closes on the20th August 2014.

Further registration details and all other conference information will be provided on the BIOECON web-site athttp://www.bioecon-network.org/pages/16th_2014.html. 

Download the Announcement and Call for Papers document[pdf - 219 Kb]

Deadline for submission of abstracts until May 15, 2014

Call for abstracts

Is open the call for abstracts of the XL edition of the Spanish Regional Studies Meting which is being organized in Asturias under the auspices of the Spanish Regional Science Association and will take place in Zaragoza the 20^st-21^nd November, 2014.

The theme of this edition of the conference is Financing and the role of the regions and towns in the economic recovery.

On behalf of the Aragonese Regional Science Association, we invite you to participate in the XL Conference of Regional Studies, which will be held in Zaragoza the 20th-21st November 2014. As previous editions, we intend to create a discussion forum on Regional Science, between academics and professionals on different disciplines: economic, geography, maths, econometrics, sociology etc. With the debate and discussion we intend to help in the economic making decision process at municipal, regional, national or international level. With respect to this last issue, note that our meeting is open to researches from several countries, within and outside the European Union. This is also the identity of the 7th Seminar Jean Paelinck, that will be held simultaneously in Zaragoza, and whose sessions are open to all participants in the XL Conference of Regional Studies.

The lemma of the XL Conference of Regional Studiesis the following: “FINANCING AND THE ROLE OF REGIONS AND TOWNS IN ECONOMIC RECOVERY”. In the present economic context, it is necessary to work on the design of those measures that contribute to overcome the huge economic crisis we are facing to. In this sense, the correct distribution of economic resources at municipal or regional level is a key tool to get it.

The organizing committee is composed by members of the University of Zaragoza and members of the research groups of Quantitative Economic Analysis (GAEC) and Public Economy, both from the University of Zaragoza.

The Scientific Committee is responsible for selecting the contents of the conference. It is presided by Prof. José Villaverde Castro and comprises academics from external universities and institutions. This Committee is responsible for guaranteeing the quality of the presented papers as well as the correct organization of the debates, round tables, etc.

The languages of the XL Conference of Regional Studies are Spanish and English, and the conference will be held in November, 20th-21st. The Conference Sites are the Faculty of Economic and Enterprise  and “Paraninfo” of the University of Zaragoza

From these lines, we want to encourage participating in the XL Conference of Regional Studiesto those professional interested in Regional Science. As previously said, we think that diverse perspectives will improve the present state of arts in Regional Science and increase efficiency in the development of national economic growth policies, in general, and policies aimed at the recovery from the present economic crisis, in particular.

On behalf of the Aragonese Regional Science Association, the Organizing Committee and the Scientific Committee, we would like to give special thanks to all the sponsors of this event. We would also like express our wish that this edition of the conference – which, like its predecessors, will prove to be a valuable forum from academic and professional perspectives and in terms of its social impact. Moreover, this forum will offer us the opportunity to discuss the main issues in regional science in the presence of old and new colleagues.