RSAI has the great pleasure to announce that the jury consisting of  Janice Madden, Carlos Azzoni and Erik Verhoef chose the article "Network proximity in the geography of research collaboration" by Laurent R. Bergé,  published in Volume 94, Issue 4, Vovember 2017, Pages: 785-815 as the winner of the Martin Beckmann Prize as the best paper published in Papers in Regional Science in 2017.

Motivation:

Through an elegant scientific approach, the paper replies to the questions of how network proximity influences the structure of inter-regional collaborations and how it interacts with geography. A new, theoretically grounded, measure of inter-regional network proximity is introduced.

The paper achieves interesting results, revealing that inter-regional network proximity is important in determining future collaborations but its effect is mediated by geography. Most importantly, a clear substitution pattern is revealed showing that network proximity mainly benefits international collaborations.

Based on the originality of the interest in the topic, and the important results achieved, the jury concluded that the paper was the best published one in 2017.

Many congratulations to Laurent R. Bergé!

Call for abstracts

Interested in presenting your work in one of the thirty conference sessions? The call for abstract is now open.

In order for you to prepare your abstract, you find more information about abstract submission here. The online abstract submission system is open from 30 April to 23 July 2018 (the abstract submission deadline has been extended from 4 to 23 July). All other sessions are open to voluntary contributions.

Proceed to abstract submission

Type of submission

There are three different types of contributions you can choose from within this system:

• Abstract: please select a first and second session of your choice so we can forward your abstract to the session of your 2nd choice  in case your abstract will be rejected by the host of your preferred session.
• Poster abstract: if you wish to submit an abstract which you would like to present as a poster during the conference. Separate poster sessions will be organised. In order to cluster the posters thematically, we ask you to select the session into which your poster fits best.
• Invited speaker abstract: if you were personally invited to present your abstract by the session host(s). Please do submit your abstract too, if you would like your abstract to appear in the book of abstracts. If you will present in a session which only allows invited speakers to present, you will find this session in the Sessions which only allow invited speakers section selection.

Author guidelines

We kindly request you to follow the following guidelines for your abstract submission:

• Document type: Word 
• Text font: Verdana
• Font size: 10
• Maximum number of words: 300
• Maximum amount of keywords: 5
• Order of presented information:
  • Title
  • Presenting author
  • Other authors
  • Primary affiliation
  • Abstract text (maximum 300 words)
  • Keywords

Abstract submission

To submit your abstract for review, please fill in the abstract submission form. When you click on this link, you will first be asked to create an 'author account'. Once you created this account, you can submit your abstract. The author account is needed for communication purposes.

Proceed to abstract submission

http://www.espconference.org/latinamerica2018/wiki/278829/call-for-abstracts

One scientific fellowship is available at the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies – GOVCOPP UID/ CPO/ 4058, in the research group on Systems for Decision Support (SDS), at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, financed by FCT/MCTES, through national funds (PIDDAC), and, co-financed by FEDER through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI).
Scientific Areas: Economics; Urban and Regional Planning; Operations Research and other social sciences.
Admission requirements:
1. The candidate must have a Master degree either in Economics, Urban and Regional Planning, Operations Research or in other social sciences.
2. Candidates with Master degree in other fields will be admitted if they demonstrate a solid research record in the above-mentioned scientific areas.
3. The candidate must have experience in scientific research, preferably supported by authored or co-authored international publications.
4. The candidate must demonstrate an excellent command of reading, listening, speaking and writing in English.
5. Preference will be given to candidates that:
a. have working experience in multidisciplinary research projects;
b. have working experience in spatial quantitative analysis and in producing composite indicators;
c. are continuing their academic studies.
Job description: This scientific fellow is expected to contribute significantly to the overall goals and objectives of the GOVCOPP and to the specific goals of the SDS research group, namely the management of the Decision Support Lab (DS - Lab), which makes available online spatial composite indicators and some decision support tools (prototype versions) produced by GOVCOPP researchers.
In particular, the fellow is expected to:
1. Significantly contribute to the implementation of the “Regional Decision Support System” strategic action subprogram of the GOVCOPP.
2. Collaborate in the DS - Lab management, namely to:
a. identify potential indicators to be included in the DS - Lab (within the research projects developed and under development in the GOVCOPP),
b. work with the responsible researchers in the production of indicators and the corresponding methodological reports,
c. ensure the updating of the indicators included.
3. Assist the coordinator of the SDS research group in the group’s coordination tasks.
4. Contribute to the funding and internationalization of the SDS research group, helping identify relevant project calls and actively promoting and supporting the process of application to these calls.
5. Collaborate with members of the Research Unit, particularly of the SDS research group, in the writing of high-level publication outputs, especially articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
Legislation and regulations: Scientific Research Fellowship Statute-Law (Decree 40/2004, 18th of August); FCT, I.P. Fellowships Regulation approved by Regulation 234/2012 of 25 June, amended by Regulation 326/2013 of 27 August 2013 in force ( www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/docs/RegulamentoBolsasFCT2015.pdf), and Regulation for Advanced Training and Qualification of Human Resources 2011 and the Scientific Research Fellowship Regulation of the University of Aveiro – Regulation Nº.341/2011, Diário da República, 2nd series, nº. 98, 20th of May.
Workplace: The work will be developed at the facilities of the Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies, University of Aveiro, in the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences.
Duration of the grant: This is a 4 months limited term non-tenure accruing position. The grant will predictably start on September 1st 2018, eventually renewable, contingent on satisfactory performance and on funding availability.
Monthly allowance:
The amount of the grant corresponds to 980 € per month plus social security according to the scholarships value table of FCT, I.P. in the country (www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores), with payments made monthly by check or bank transfer. The stipend value is free from taxation.
Methods of selection: The evaluation criteria and methods shall be as follows, with a maximum of 100 points:
1. Adequacy of the academic profile to GOVCOPP and research group Systems for Decision Support (SDS) goals and strategic guidelines (maximum of 30 points);
2. Publication record (maximum of 15 points);
3. Working experience in multidisciplinary research projects and on spatial quantitative analysis (maximum of 35 points);
4. Working experience in geographical information systems and on statistical analysis software’s (maximum of 20 points).
After the curricula evaluation, the Jury can select a maximum of three applicants, with the highest awarded points, for an interview, which may be carried out via a video-conferencing platform. This interview, if performed, will grant the selected applicants with extra points (maximum of 100 points).
The Jury reserves the right to consider the applications to be below the desirable quality levels, and suggest closing this call without any selected applicant.
Members of the Jury: Anabela Botelho Veloso (chair); João Lourenço Marques; Mara Madaleno and as substitute members, Marlene Amorim and Carlos Rodrigues.
Form of advertising/notification of results:
The final evaluation results will be publicized through an alphabetical list, which will be posted in a visible and public place of GOVCOPP, being the applicants notified by email.
Deadlines: This call for applications is open from 16th to 27th July 2018, till 5 p.m.
Application procedure: Applications must contain the following documents:
1. Curriculum vitae;
2. Copy of the academic degrees certificates;
3. Motivation letter;
4. A sample copy of the candidate’s research (e.g. a journal article or other publication).
Applications should be sent via e-mail to the following address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
University of Aveiro, 29th June 2018

http://www.eracareers.pt/opportunities/index.aspx?task=global&jobId=101521

Review of Regional Research: Call for a special issue on "Natural Disasters and the Economy"

Guest editors: Alessandra Faggian and Marco Modica, The Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), L’Aquila, (Italy)

Deadline: May 31, 2019
Submissions online at: https://www.editorialmanager.com/jfre/default.aspx

The Call can be found on https://www.editorialmanager.com/jfre/default.aspx

The Regional Science Association British and Irish Section awards, on an annual basis, the Moss Madden Memorial Medal to the member(s) of the Section who author the best article on regional science published in a particular calendar year. The jury is now beginning the search for the winner of the Moss Madden Medal for 2017.

We would be grateful if members of the section would send nominations for the 2017 Medal. Members should note that the Medal is awarded to the member or members of the Section that have written the article of greatest distinction published in any area of Regional Science in any journal during 2017.  Nominators should provide a reference to the article.  Also, self nominations are allowed.

Nominations can be sent to Professor Kim Swales, Fraser of Allander Institute, Strathclyde Business School at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dear all,

The new RSAI Newsletter May 2018 can now be found under

http://regionalscience.org/images/PDF/Newsletter%202018%20May.pdf

Program: Apply today for The Data Incubator’s Free Data Science Fellowship Program. The Data Incubator is an intensive 8 week fellowship that prepares current and graduated masters, PhDs, and postdocs in STEM and social science fields seeking industry careers as data scientists.  We teach about data engineering, machine-learning, analytics, visualization and many other big data topics. The program is free for Fellows and supported by sponsorships from hundreds of employers across multiple industries. In response to the overwhelming interest in our earlier sessions, we will be holding another fellowship. Everyone else is encouraged to sign-up for a future session. 

Locations: There will be both an in-person (in NYC, DC, SF, Boston, Seattle) and online section of the fellowship. 

Dates: All sessions will be from 2018-09-10 – 2018-11-02. 

Application Link: https://www.thedataincubator.com/fellowship.html#apply 

Data Science in 30 minutes: Learn how to build a data-science project in our upcoming free Data Science in 30-minutes webcast. Signup soon as space is limited. 

Learn More: You can learn about our fellows at The New York Times, LinkedIn, Amazon, Capital One, or Palantir. To read about our latest fellow alumni, check out our blog. To learn more about The Data Incubator, check us out on Venture Beat, The Next Web, or Harvard Business Review.

Only a few days left for applying to our paid PhD positions in “Urban Studies and Regional Science” at the Gran Sasso Science Institute (l'Aquila, Italy). 8 positions are available; the position is for four years, starting in November 2018.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: June 20, 2018.

The methodological perspective in research and teaching is multidisciplinary.

Approaches, methods and topics from diverse fields that constitute “urban studies”, such as human geography, spatial planning, urbanism, urban politics and policies, urban sociology and ethnography, are welcomed. In the same vein, we welcome applications from candidates more oriented towards regional science, such as economic geographers or economists, for instance. (Candidates do not need to have a background in both urban studies AND regional science; expertise in one of the two fields is enough!)

GENERAL INFORMATION: www.gssi.it/phd/

SCHOLARSHIP: The yearly amount of the scholarship is of € 16,160 gross.

FACILITIES AND BENEFITS: All PhD students will have: tuition fees waived; free accommodation at the GSSI facilities or a financial substitute of 350,00 Euros gross/month; free luncheon vouchers.

 CONTACTS: www.gssi.it - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS

ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS MEET INNOVATION SYSTEMS

Editors: Alexandra Tsvetkova, Jana Schmutzler, Rhiannon Pugh

Preliminary approval received from Edward Elgar Publishers for an edited book

In a new edited book we seek to explore the similarities and differences between the Innovation Systems (IS) and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EE) approaches in their treatment of common research topics. Our broader goals are (1) to advance the discourse by bridging the two research traditions through the lessons one perspective can learn from the other and (2) to expand the frontiers of current knowledge by encouraging research into previously unexplored areas.

To this end, we invite extended abstract submissions for empirical, theoretical and review chapters that try to bridge the literatures on innovation systems (IS) or entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) within the blocks of topics listed below.

Block I – Bridging the IS and EE perspectives: papers that bridge the IS and EE perspectives:

•             theoretical contributions, which – by combining the two approaches – advance our current knowledge;

•             critical reviews of the literature that explore similarities, differences, limitations and areas of overlap;

•             any other types of contributions that fall within this area, e.g. explorations of various topics made explicitly from the two perspectives.

Block II – Sustainable development and inclusive growth: empirical research which explores - from the IS or EE perspectives:

-              the ways entrepreneurship and innovation contribute and shape sustainable development and inclusive growth;

-              social innovation and social entrepreneurship;

-              responsible innovation and responsible entrepreneurship;

-              possible limitations of the EE or IS perspectives to adequately explain any topics listed above.

Block III – The informal economy: empirical contributions that adopt systems approach to the study of:

-              the informal sector in general;

-              frugal innovation;

-              informal entrepreneurship and informal innovation.

Submission, review and publication

Please submit extended chapter abstracts (800-1,000 words) together with a full list of contributors and a tentative title to Alexandra Tsvetkova (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) no later than Sunday, August 19th, 2018.  The title, the list of authors, their affiliations and references (if any) are excluded from the word count.

The editors will screen all submissions for clarity, relevance and expected contribution to the book theme. Acceptance notifications will be sent out on September 3, 2018; chapter submission deadline is January 13th, 2019. We have discussed the book plan with an Edward Elgar editor and received a preliminary approval. We expect to sign a book contract in October 2018 with expected publication in Fall 2019 –Winter 2010.

A detailed call for chapter submissions can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s95bqsoy4wggelm/Call%20for%20book%20chapters%20EE%20meet%20IS%20final.pdf?dl=0