Lecturers/Senior Lecturers in Human Geography (Big Data)

University of Birmingham - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Lecturer: Starting salary is normally in the range £38,896 to £46,414 . With potential progression once in post to £52,219 a year.

Senior Lecturer:  Starting salary is normally in the range £47,801 to £55,389. With potential progression once in post to £72,224 a year.

Deadline: 17th December 2015

The University of Birmingham is continuing to make strategic investments across its research base in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences.  We are seeking to appoint a Lecturer and a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography with expertise in one or more of the following fields: Big Data and Geocomputation, GIS and Quantitative Geography, Economic Geography and Regional Science. The successful candidate will join the Human Geography research group, which has specialisms cutting across: economic geography and big data; energy and environment; spatial policy; cultural geography; political geography and geopolitics. 

Quantitative scholars within the group are currently responsible for running the Big Data lunchtime seminar series funded by the university’s Institute for Advanced Studies, bringing together interdisciplinary expertise from across campus, stretching from the Business School and Economics to Computer Science, Engineering and Physics.  The School is also a partner within a NERC-ESRC Centre for Doctoral Training (DREAM: Data, Risk and Environmental Analytical Methods) alongside Cranfield, Newcastle and Cambridge, providing funding for 30 PhD studentships.

It is expected that the appointees will contribute to building a long-term strategy around Big Data/economic geography through both research and teaching innovations.  The undergraduate Geography programme is being reshaped to incorporate cutting edge computational and visualisation methods, with an emphasis on research-led teaching.  Research into urban geography cuts across the interests of both physical and social scientists within the School and there are significant opportunities for interdisciplinary activities.  The candidate will be expected to supervise PGT and PGR projects in relevant areas.

There would be an expectation that the appointee will engage internationally, building on the strong links already established by the university with European funding agencies and partners (including the JRC), and through a Global Engagement strategy that has partnerships in Brazil, China, India and North America as well as through Universitas 21. 

Evidence of a strong track record in publishing work of the highest academic quality and impact is essential, and (for a senior appointment) obtaining external research funding is important. In addition to demonstrating (or showing potential for) internationally excellent research, applicants must have a commitment to delivering excellent teaching and learning in Human Geography at all levels (i.e. undergraduate, postgraduate, and higher research degrees) and communicating the relevance and impact of their research to stakeholders. The successful candidates will be involved in administrative tasks (appropriate to their appointment grade) to support delivery of research and teaching within the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences.

The School welcomes applications from candidates looking for flexible part time/job share arrangements as part of the appointment.

Applicants should contact one of the below individuals: Professor David M. Hannah (Head of School;This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Dr Phil Jones (Head of Human Geography Research Theme;This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Dr Emmanouil Tranos (Lecturer in Human Geography;This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Professor Eugenia (Eva) Valsami-Jones (Director of Research for GEES;This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

To download the details and submit an electronic application online visit: www.hr.bham.ac.uk/jobs

The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Weldon Cooper Center for Public  Service at the University of Virginia invite applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow in general equilibrium modeling and public policy to begin in fall 2016. We welcome applications from scholars who have earned doctorates in economics, public policy, or related fields. This position is focused on the development of policy-relevant general equilibrium modeling for use in state-level analysis but in the context of multi-level governance, including federal and international. The research fellow will also work with the Batten School’s Center for Leadership Simulation and Gaming.

We wish to advance the art of state-level policy evaluation by developing tools for evaluating state-level policies and that account both for temporal dynamics within the state and the nested interactions with other levels of governance. Relevant policy contexts include environmental policies, tax policies, infrastructure investments, and other important public policy issues. While these tools serve primarily as rigorous policy evaluation tools, we also work with experts at the simulation and gaming center to explore the potential of using models with non-equilibrium behavior for future policy simulations that can be used in education or as demonstrations for policymakers.

Candidates are expected to have completed their doctoral degrees by August 1, 2016.

Built upon the strong foundation of one of the nation's top public universities, the Batten School combines rigorous training in policy analysis with a unique emphasis on the acquisition of leadership skills. The core faculty includes economists, political scientists, and psychologists, enriched by professors of practice who bring real-world policymaking expertise to the classroom. The Weldon Cooper Center  for Public Service provides technical expertise in support of effective governance at the state and local level in Virginia. Rigorous policy modeling and simulation are key strategic priorities for the Batten School and the Cooper Center.

All candidates must apply online. Paper and emailed applications will not be considered. Your application will not be complete until all required documents are available on Econjobmarket.org and you receive a confirmation number for the submission of your Candidate Profile from Jobs@UVA.

There are two required steps to complete an application:

1. Register with UVa's employment system: Apply to the advertised position and complete a candidate profile through Jobs@UVa (which is located at https://jobs.virginia.edu). To submit your candidate profile, search for posting 0617732 and follow the directions. Do not submit job market materials to Jobs@UVa. This step should only take a few minutes to complete.
2. Submit your job market materials to https://econjobmarket.org. Applicants should submit a CV, one research paper, and contact information for three references.

Questions regarding the application process should be directed to Rebecca Beirne (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Review of applications will begin November 30. The position will remain open until filled.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

RSAI Dissertation Award

There were a total of 15 submissions for the 2015 dissertation competition, in which eight from U.S. universities, two from Turkey, and one each from Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, India, and Israel. The final winner and two runner ups are presented as follows.

Final winner: Tate Twinam, University of Pittsburgh, with a thesis with the title “The Economics of Zoning” jointly supervised by Arie Beresteanu and Randall P. Walsh.

Two runner ups: Jianjun Tang, University of Groningen (Netherlands), with a dissertation with the title “Demand-oriented irrigation water management in North Western China” supervised by Henk Folmer; and Mona Kashiha, University of North Carolina at Charlotte with the title “Spatial competition based on customers' choice histories: A study of trade flows” advise by  Jean-Claude Thill.

Dear All,

The 12th European IFSA Symposium will take place at Harper Adams University, UK from Tuesday 12 - Friday 15 July 2016.The closing date for submission of abstracts is Monday 21 December 2015.

Ana, Jakub and I, are convenors of sub-theme:  5.3 Rural development policies in the peripheral Southern and Eastern European regions and we invite you to submit a paper in this workshop. For further information, please see the link: (http://www.harper-adams.ac.uk/events/ifsa-conference/sub-theme.cfm?id=26)

Best regards,

Emiliana Silva

Call for Special Session Proposals

ERSA is calling for special session proposals for ERSA 2016 in Vienna, Austria. If you want to organize a special session for this conference, please fill in the electronic form at http://vienna.ersa.org/special-sessions

Dear colleague:

We have just published a special issue of the journal Investigaciones Regionales / Journal of Regional Research (issue n. 32). It is now available both on line (www.journalofregionalresearch.org) and print version.

This issue includes the following contents:

Introduction:

Introduction: Rethinking industrial districts in the XXI Century- Rafael Boix, Fabio Sforzi, Francesc Hernández

Articles:

Rethinking the industrial district: 35 years later- F. Sforzi

Beyond geo-sectoriality: the productive chorality of places- G. Becattini

Giacomo Becattini and the Marshall’s method- J. Trullén

What about Industrial District(s) in Regional Science?- F. Sforzi, R. Boix

Three Generations of Industrial districts- M. Bellandi, L. De Propris

The international resilience of Italian industrial districts/clusters (ID/C) between knowledge re-shoring and manufacturing off (near)-shoring- F. Belussi

How do multinational enterprises co-locate in industrial districts? An introduction to the integration of alternative explanations from international business and economic geography literatures– J. L. Hervás Oliver

An industrial district around a mining resource: the case of marble of Macael in Almería– J. Á. Aznar-Sánchez, A. Carretero-Gómez, J. F. Velasco-Muñoz

In vino veritas: competitive factors in wine-producing industrial districts- M. J. Ruiz, F. Hernández, V. Soler i Marco

Investigaciones Regionales/Journal of Regional Research is ranked as Q2 by Scimago JRC (Scopus), in Economics, Econometrics and Finance, and indexed in other scientific and academic international databases.

To contact Us and Submit Manuscripts:

Investigaciones Regionales – Journal of Regional Research

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

Yours sincerely,

Andrés Maroto, PhD

Editorial Board

We have the pleasure of inviting you to the 6th Slovak Winter Seminar of Regional Science that will take place in the mountain resort of Low Tatras on 9th – 12th March 2016.

Enclosed you can find more information about the conference.

The main objective of the annual Winter Seminar is to bring creative academic debate on actual issues of regional science and practice of regional policy by an attractive environment and relaxed atmosphere.

Accepted articles will be published in the conference proceedings "6th Slovak Winter Seminar of Regional Science 2016” with ISBN. Selected papers will be invited to publish in the peer reviewed journal Region Direct in 2016.

Important Dates:

Abstract submission deadline:                       November 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015

Participation fee payment:                 November 1, 2015 - January 31, 2016

Paper submission deadline:                February 15, 2016

Winter Seminar:                                 March 9 - 12, 2016

One-page abstract should be sent to Valeria Szitasiova (e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) until December 31, 2015. In case of any questions, please, do not hesitate to contact us via e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Read more about our previous winter seminars on www.ersa.sk

Yours sincerely,

Winter Seminar´s Organizing Committee

Stefan Rehak, Miroslav Sipikal, Valeria Szitasiova, Tomas Cernenko, Veronika Fercikova Slovak Section of ERSA

Award of Stan Czamanski Prize in 2015

by David Boyce, Kieran Donaghy and Rachel Franklin

In mid-October, 2015, our committee met by telephone to recommend the winner of the 2015 award of the Stan Czamanski Prize for the best Ph.D. dissertation proposal approved during the period July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. The six candidates for this award were the following:

Steven R. Gehrke, PortlandStateUniversity, Portland, Oregon, USA

Sarah Howe, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia

Victor Iturra Rivera, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Dávid Krisztián Nagy, PrincetonUniversity, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

Natalya Rybnikova, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

Samuel Stehle, PennStateUniversity, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

One other candidate by Xize Wang, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA, was submitted early for the 2016 competition. He was asked to resubmit his documents in June 2016. Finally, one additional candidate, Hyun Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, was submitted on September 30, 2015. This submission was not judged in the 2015 competition.

In reviewing the six submissions, the following statement was carefully considered:

“Professor Czamanski’s research exemplified the analysis of social problems with regional and spatial dimensions. In doing so, he chose judiciously the right combination of analytical and empirical research methods from his tool box to address the specific issue at hand. Many of his papers illustrated how particular combinations of methods could be used most aptly to study particular problems.”

In our review, we agreed unanimously that the proposal of Steven Gehrke best represented the approach of Professor Czamanski. Gehrke’s proposal was entitled “Active Travel Behavior and Spatial-temporalLand Use Mixing.” The letter by Professor Kelly Clifton was helpful in reaching this conclusion.