Dear all,

 The new RSAI Newsletter May 201 can now be found under

http://regionalscience.org/images/PDF/Newsletter_2014_May_2.pdf

Call for Papers – NARSC 2014 - Abstract Submission Deadline July 1

Join us in the Washington, D.C region for the 61st North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) sponsored by the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC). The conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, Maryland, November 12th – 15th, 2014.  You can learn more about the conference, submit an abstract, and register for the conference and workshops at the NARSC Website at http://www.narsc.org/.

Click on the link to the conference section for general information on the conference.  To register for the conference or submit an abstract/session online you must first login to the User Area. If you attended a NARSC conference over the past couple of years or are a member of a North American regional science organization, when you reach the login page of the User Area, you will be asked to enter your provided username and password.  Otherwise, when you reach the login page of the User Area, you will be asked to click on a link and enter your e-mail address so we can check if you are already in our database. If you are in our database, your username and password will be e-mailed to you so you can login. If you are not in our database, you will need to register for a free NARSC user account and then you will be able to register for the conference and submit an abstract.

Once logged, you can change your password, update your profile, submit an abstract/session, register for the conference, and check the status of your registration.  You will be to access your account in the User Area subsequently using your valid username and password.  In case you forget your password, just contact technical support at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your e-mail address and your password will be e-mailed to you so you can login.

Please note that there is a surcharge for individuals who are not members of RSAI. Before you register please confirm your RSAI membership status. You can do so at http://www.rsai.uac.pt/. If you are an RSAI member you should register at the RSAI membership rate. If, on checking your status, your name does not appear as an RSAI member you must register at the non-members rate. If you have a question regarding your RSAI membership please contact Elisabete Martins at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

When you register make sure that you register for NARSC 2014. The NARSC shopping cart is also used by other regional science organizations and in the past people has inadvertently registered for the wrong conference.

Individual papers, posters, and sessions must be submitted online in the abstract submission section of the website between now and JULY 1, 2014. The conference registration section is open and allows secure electronic financial transactions. We will continue to host poster sessions, and pre-conference workshops, which will be held on November 12th. More information about the workshops can be found at http://www.narsc.org/newsite/?page_id=2547.

Conference organizers welcome individual papers and organized sessions relating to a wide variety of topics inclusive within the diverse realm of regional science.  We are an international scholarly organization that focuses on regional analysis, ranging from urban and spatial theory to applied problems in regional development, sustainability, environmental management, and rural land use.  We are an interdisciplinary association, with members representing fields as diverse as economics, agricultural economics, public policy, urban planning, civil engineering, geography, finance, and demography.  The annual North American RSAI conference is the premier regional science meeting in North America and attracts scholars and practitioners from around the world. 

A block of rooms have been reserved at the Hyatt Regency at the rate of $199/night for a single or a double (plus applicable taxes of 13%).

If you have questions, here is contact information:

Local arrangements:

Meagan Cahill (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

John Carruthers (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Program Chair:

Rachel Franklin (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Overall Arrangements

Neil Reid, (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

We look forward to seeing you in November.

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