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The U.S. Census Bureau mission is to be the preeminent collector and provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the people and economy of the United States.

The Regional Science Association was founded in 1954 to provide intellectual leadership in the study of social, economic, political and behavioural phenomena with a spatial dimension. Consequently, the Association brings together scholars from a large number of fields, including economics, geography, urban and regional planning, civil engineering, sociology, finance and political science. Members are found in academic institutions, in government, in consulting organizations and a variety of private firms. In 1990, the Association changed its organizational structure to better reflect the growth and development of the field; the Regional Science Association International now serves as an umbrella organization overseeing three major superregional organizations in North America, Europe and the Pacific.

The main objectives of the Association are the fostering of exchange of ideas and the promotion of studies focusing on the region, including the utilization of tools, methods and theoretical frameworks, specifically designed for regional analysis as well as concept, procedures and analytical techniques of the various social and other sciences. These objectives are supported through the acquaintance and discussion among its members and with scholars in related fields, by the encouragement of publication of scholarly studies and by performing services to aid the advancement of its members and the field of regional science. For more information contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Traditionally, the RSAI honoured its leading members through their election to the office of President. This practice changed in 1990, when the President became principally a leadership position in the Association. In 1978, the Association honoured its founder, Professor Walter Isard, by establishing the Founder's Medal. Today, this award remains the only honour conveyed by the Association as a whole, although its three supraregional organizations have established annual awards.

The Founder's Medal was established to recognize lifetime contributions to the field of Regional Science and to the Association. The criteria established for the award are as follows:

• The recipient should be a senior scholar who has contributed in an important way to the field of Regional Science in a scholarly sense;
• The recipient should have been active in the RSAI for a sustained period, but not necessarily active at the time of the award; also, the award is not given posthumously;
• The recipient should be a person with whom many members can identify; his/her contributions could be a major work in one area or many works in several areas;
• The contribution need not be limited to one type of contribution; it might be theory, method or policy, for example;
• It is recognized that the native country and language of scholars affect the extent to which they are known by the membership, and an effort should be made to take this into account.

The recipients of the Founder's Medal:

1. Walter Isard, Professor of Economics, Regional Science and Peace Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; in 1979, Professor Isard became Professor of Economics (Regional Science and Peace Science), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; awarded in 1978 at the North American Meetings, Chicago.

2. Martin J. Beckmann, Professor of Economics, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, and Professor of Applied Mathematics (Operations Research), Technical University, Munich, Germany; awarded in 1983 at the North American Meetings, Chicago.

3. William Alonso, Saltonstall Professor of Population Policy, Center for Population Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; awarded in 1991 at the North American Meetings, New Orleans (deceased, 1999).

4. Jean H. P. Paelinck, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Rotterdam School of Economics, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; awarded in 1996 at the World Congress, Tokyo.

5. David E. Boyce, Professor of Transportation and Regional Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; awarded in 2000 at the World Congress, Lugano.

6. Peter Nijkamp, Chair and Professor of Regional and Urban Economics and Economic Geography, Free University, Amsterdam, and President of the governing board of the Netherlands Research Council; awarded in 2004 at the World Congress, Port Elizabeth.

7. Antoine Bailly, Born in 1944, Antoine Bailly is professor emeritus of economic geography at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He is the president of the IGU Applied Geography Commission, of the Scientific Committee of the INRA PSDR (France) and of the Forum Sante Gesundheit (Switzerland). He was presented with the Founder's medal at ERSA conference Liverpool, August 2008. 

8. Arthur Getis is a Distinguished Professor of Geography, Emeritus, at San Diego State University. He holds BS and MS degrees in Geography from The Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Washington, and his areas of research include spatial statistics, pattern analysis, urban geography, disease and crime clustering, and geographic information sciences. He was presented with the Founder's medal at the 9th World Congress in Timisoara, Romania, May 2012.

9. Manfred M. Fischer is Chair Professor of Economic Geography at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. He was co-founder of the prominent interdisciplinary journal Geographical Systems (Gordon & Breach) and is now editor-in-chief of its successor, the Journal of Geographical Systems (Springer), and is a member of the editorial boards of several other peer-reviewed journals. He also co-founded the Springer book series, Advances in Spatial Science, and served for eight years as Chair of the IGU Commission on Mathematical Models. He was presented with the Founder's medal at the 56th ERSA Congress in Vienna, Austria, August 2016.

10. Geoffrey Hewings was the founding Director of REAL and served in this position until August 2016. He obtained a B.A. from the University of Birmingham (UK) and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington (Seattle). Prior to coming to Illinois in 1974, he was on the faculty of the University of Kent at Canterbury (UK) and the University of Toronto (Canada). He is also a recipient of the Fulbright and the Woodrow Wilson awards and, in 2003, he has also been nominated Fellow of the Regional Science Association International. He is also Fellow of the International Input-Output Association (since 2010) and the Western Regional Science Association (also since 2010). Geoffrey has also served as President of the North American Regional Science Council, the Regional Science Association. He was presented with the Founder's medal in 2020.

11. Jacques Thisse a Fellow of the Econometric Society, of the Regional Science Association International and of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, is professor Emeritus of economics and regional science at the Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and a member of CORE. He has published over 150 articles in different international journals (Econometrica, American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Theory, Operations Research, etc) and in different disciplines such as industrial economics, spatial economics, international economics and management science. He is the co-author of Discrete Choice Theory of Product differentiation and of Economics of Agglomeration. He is particularly interested in product differentiation, heterogeneous consumers and firms in various types of market structure and spatial settings, as well as in the spatial organization of economic activities. He has been a Visiting Invited Professor in many departments, most recently at Columbia economics department and has received many prestigious awards, amongst which the Solvay price of the Belgian Science foundation in 2006.

Regional Science Policy & Practice (RSPP) is an open access journal published by Elsevier on behalf of the RSAI. Although RSPP charges Article Processing Charges (APCs), Elsevier has signed agreements with many countries and universities that allow papers to be fully or partially free of APCs (Please check here your situation). Nevertheless, the Editorial Team of RSPP can allocate waivers or provide some support to authors to secure the publication of accepted papers that fit into Special Issues and do not have enough funding. This situation must be addressed when submitting the paper. To access Regional Science Policy & Practice visit https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/regional-science-policy-and-practice Our journals are now both publushed Gold Open Access with Elsevier; APCs are USD 2740 for PiRS and USD 1596 for RSPP. However: Selected Countries, beneficiaries of the Research4Life program, are eligible for a 100% or a 50% discount on APCs; Authors from entities with an institutional agreement with Elsevier do not pay APCs; PiRS' editorial team has 20 waivers, and RSPP's has 50 waivers, to allocate each year for accepted articles based on the decision of the EiCs, and the merits of each paper; If none of the former applies, RSAI members are in any case eligible for a 20% discount on APCs. Journal Impact Factor™ of 1.7 Scopus 2023 CiteScore: 3.6 Scopus Citescore Category Rankings 2023: - Geography, Planning and Development - 258/821 - Development - 90/360 - Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law - 185/399 SCImago Journal Rank 2023:  0.585 SNIP 2023: 0.892

RSPP Working Papers Special Series on Covid-19 RSPP Working Paper nº 2020.001 Differentiated territorial effect of Covid-19 on the tourism sector in Morocco By Ilyes Boumahdi, Nouzha Zaoujal and Abdellali Fadlallah   RSPP Working Paper nº 2020.002 Socio-Demographic Disparities in COVID-19 Case Rates and Testing: An exploratory spatial analysis of ZIP code data in Chicago, IL By Kevin Credit

Aims and Scope

Regional Science Policy and Practice (RSPP) is the journal of the Regional Science Association International that publish high quality papers in regional science, assumed to be the discipline that looks at people’s and places interaction within space; with sound, replicable and advanced methods; suitable to generate robust evidences that are able to inform effective policies for regional sustainable development. It welcomes papers from a range of academic disciplines and practitioners including planning, public policy, geography, economics and environmental science and related fields. Papers should address the interface between academic debates and policy development and application. RSPP provides an opportunity for academics and policy makers to develop a dialogue to identify and explore many of the challenges facing local and regional economies.

RSPP publishes high quality papers targeted at informing the policy development process leading to the formation of theoretically grounded regional policy. The editors invite submissions dealing with the policy and practice of regional and local development. Contributions that are the outcome of collaborations between researchers and policy and practice professions are encouraged.

Keywords

regional, science, policy, practice, RSAI, journal, geography, applied, local development, planning, public policy, economics, environmental science

Abstracting and Indexing Information

• Academic OneFile (GALE Cengage)
• Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics)
• Environment Abstracts (ProQuest)
• Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management (ProQuest)
• InfoTrac (GALE Cengage)
• Political Science Complete (EBSCO Publishing)
• SCOPUS (Elsevier)
• Sustainability Science Abstracts (ProQuest)
• Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics)

Please note: Members of the Regional Science Association International are eligible for a 20% discount on the article publishing charge.

Papers in Regional Science (PiRS) is published by Elsevier on behalf of the RSAI. To access Papers in Regional Science visit https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/papers-in-regional-science

Our journals are now both published Gold Open Access with Elsevier; APCs are USD 2740 for PiRS and USD 1596 for RSPP.

However:

• Selected Countries, beneficiaries of the Research4Life program, are eligible for a 100% or a 50% discount on APCs;
• Authors from entities with an institutional agreement with Elsevier do not pay APCs;
• PiRS' editorial team has 20 waivers, and RSPP's has 50 waivers, to allocate each year for accepted articles based on the decision of the EiCs, and the merits of each paper;
• If none of the former applies, RSAI members are in any case eligible for a 20% discount on APCs.

Aims and Scope

Papers in Regional Science is the official journal of the Regional Science Association International. It encourages high quality scholarship on a broad range of topics in the field of regional science. These topics include, but are not limited to, behavioural modelling of location, transportation, and migration decisions, land use and urban development, inter-industry analysis, environmental and ecological analysis, resource management, urban and regional policy analysis, geographical information systems, and spatial statistics.

The journal publishes papers that make a new contribution to the theory, methods and models related to urban and regional (or spatial) matters. The editors invite submissions of papers that emphasize the application of theoretical frameworks, methods and models, developed specifically for the study of urban and regional phenomena. They also welcome contributions to the understanding of regional phenomena that employ theoretical frameworks and methods developed in other fields.

Key words

papers, regional, science, RSAI, journal, geography, location, transportation, migration, urban, development, environment, policy, spatial, resource management

Abstracting and Indexing Information

• Academic Search (EBSCO Publishing)
• Academic Search Premier (EBSCO Publishing)
• AgeLine Database (EBSCO Publishing)
• Current Contents: Social & Behavioral Sciences (Thomson Reuters)
• EconLit (AEA)
• GEOBASE (Elsevier)
• IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (ProQuest)
• Journal Citation Reports/Social Science Edition (Thomson Reuters)
• RePEc: Research Papers in Economics
• SCOPUS (Elsevier)
• Social Sciences Citation Index (Thomson Reuters)

 Please note: Members of the Regional Science Association International are eligible for a 20% discount on the article publishing charge.

THE BENJAMIN H. STEVENS 2020–2021

Graduate Fellowship in Regional Science

Graduate students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in North America are encouraged to apply for the Twentieth Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship in Regional Science, administered by the North American Regional Science Council of the Regional Science Association International (NARSC-RSAI). This Fellowship, in support of dissertation research in Regional Science, is awarded annually in memory of Dr. Benjamin H. Stevens, an intellectual leader whose selfless devotion to graduate students as teacher, advisor, mentor, and friend had a profound impact on the field. Regional Science is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the theory and method of urban and regional phenomena. Regional Scientists apply theoretical and empirical frameworks and methods of the social and other sciences, as well as develop new ones specifically for regional analysis and policy.

Eligible students should have completed all degree requirements except for their dissertation by the time the Fellowship commences. A requirement of the Fellowship is that the recipient have no duties other than dissertation research during the Fellowship, although the recipient may hold other fellowships concurrently. Applications from students working in any area and any North American Ph.D. program are welcome as long as their dissertation research addresses a research question in Regional Science.

The Fellowship consists of a stipend in the amount of $30,000 (U.S.), paid over a twelve-month period. Applications for the 2020–2021 Fellowship should be sent electronically by the applicant to the Selection Committee Chair, Professor Elizabeth Mack, by the deadline of February 15, 2020.

An application consists of the following materials:

1. A curriculum vita of no more than two (2) pages in length.
2. A statement in ten (10) pages or less explaining the questions and issues to be addressed, the approach to be used, and the product expected from the dissertation research, preceded by a summary (1-page maximum) describing the intellectual merit of the proposed research, and the broader impacts that may result. The 10-page limit is inclusive of references, but exclusive of tables and figures. This text should be in 12-point or larger font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins; references may be single-spaced.
3. Copies of the candidate’s transcripts for all graduate study. Unofficial copies are acceptable.

In addition, the dissertation supervisor shall provide a confidential letter sent separately as an attachment from her/his email account with the student’s name in the subject line to Professor Mack. In the letter the supervisor should assess the quality and significance of the proposed dissertation research, specify the current state of progress toward the candidate’s degree, and provide a commitment by the dissertation supervisor to obtain a tuition waiver for the candidate for the year of the Fellowship. A condition of the Fellowship is the granting of a tuition waiver for the year of the Fellowship by the university, or equivalent payment of the student’s tuition.

Applications should be emailed to Professor Elizabeth Mack at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Questions may also be sent to her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For information about the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC), go to www.narsc.org.

May 13, 2015
Last revised, July 23, 2019

The Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship in Regional Science was previously awarded to the following students:

• 2000 Michael J. Greenwald (University of California, Irvine; Marlon Boarnet, advisor)
• 2001 Rachel Franklin (University of Arizona; Brigitte Waldorf, advisor)
• 2002 JungWon Son (University of California-Los Angeles; Leobardo Estrada, advisor)
• 2003 Alison Davis Reum (North Carolina State University; V. Kerry Smith, advisor)
• 2004 Nicholas Nagle (Univ. of California-Santa Barbara; Stuart H. Sweeney, advisor)
• 2005 Xiaokun Wang (University of Texas at Austin; Kara Kockelman, advisor)
• 2006 Joshua Drucker (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; H. Goldstein and E. Feser, advisors)
• 2007 Alvin Murphy (Duke University; Patrick Bayer, advisor)
• 2008 Paavo Monkkonen (University of California, Berkeley; David E. Dowall, advisor)
• 2009 Elizabeth Mack (Indiana University; Tony H. Grubesic, advisor)
• 2010 Adam Storeygard (Brown University; J. Vernon Henderson, advisor)
• 2011 Peter Richards (Michigan State University; Robert Walker, advisor)
• 2012 Ran Wei (Arizona State University; Alan Murray, advisor)
• 2013  Zhenhua Chen (George Mason University; Kingsley Haynes, advisor)
• 2014 No Fellowship Awarded
• 2015 Ahmadreza Faghih Imani ( McGill University; Naveen Eluru, advisor)
• 2016  Nick Tsivanidis (University of Chicago; Chang-Tai Hsieh, advisor)
• 2017  Lindsay Relihan (University of Pennsylvania; Gilles Duranton, advisor)
• 2018 Daniel Crown (The Ohio State University; Mark Partridge, advisor)
• 2019 Prottoy A. Akbar (University of Pittsburgh, Randall Walsh, advisor)

More information at: http://www.narsc.org/newsite/awards-prizes/stevens-graduate-fellowship/

2024
Yoshiro Higano University of Tsukuba, Japan	Eduardo Haddad University of São Paulo, Brazil	Andrea Caragliu Politecnico di Milano, Italy
2023
Carlos Azzoni University of Sao Paulo, BRAZIL	Denise Pumain Géographie-cités, FRANCE	H.W.A. (Erik) Dietzenbacher University of Groningen, THE NETHERLANDS
2022
André Torre University Paris-Saclay, FRANCE	Budy Resosudarmo Australian National University, AUSTRALIA	Frank Van Oort Erasmus University Rotterdam, THE NETHERLANDS	Genevieve Giuliano University of Southern California, USA
2021
Amitrajeet A. Batabyal Rochester Institute of Technology, USA	Alessandra Faggian Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), ITALY	Randall Jackson West Virginia University, USA	Kara Kockelman University of Texas at Austin, USA
2020
Jouke Van Dijk  University of Groningen, THE NETHERLANDS	Juan Cuadrado-Roura University of Alcalà, SPAIN
2019
Michael Batty University College London, UK	Ingmar Prucha University of Maryland, USA	Isabelle Thomas Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
2018
Janet E. Kohlhase University of Houston, USA	Alan T. Murray University of California at Santa Barbara, USA	Dan Rickman Oklahoma State University, USA	Andrés Rodríguez-Pose London School of Economics, UK
2017
Marlon G. Boarnet University of Southern California, USA	Roberto Camagni (deceased, 2023) Politecnico di Milano, Italy	Adam Rose University of Southern California, USA
2016
Philip McCann University of Groningen, THE NETHERLANDS	Mark Partridge The Ohio State University, USA	Sergio J. Rey Arizona State University, USA
2015
Kieran P. Donaghy Cornell University, USA	Raymond J.G.M. Florax (deceased, 2017) Purdue University, USA	Jacques Poot University of Waikato, NEW ZEALAND
2014
Gilles Duranton University of Pennsylvania, USA	William Strange University of Toronto, Canada
2013
Roberta Capello Polytechnic Milano, ITALY	Kiyoshi Kobayashi Kyoto University, JAPAN	Tönu Puu (deceased, 2020) University of Umeå, SWEDEN	Jean-Claude Thill University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
2012
Brian J.L. Berry (deceased, 2025) The University of Texas at Dallas, USA	Ronald E. Miller (deceased, 2023) University of Pennsylvania, USA	Stuart S. Rosenthal Syracuse University, USA	Yves Zenou Stockholm University, SWEDEN
2011
Åke E. Anderson (deceased, 2021) Jönköping International Business School, SWEDEN	Gordon Mulligan (deceased, 2023) University of Arizona, USA
2010
Paul Krugman Princeton University, USA	Diego Puga Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies, SPAIN	Aura Reggiani University of Bologna, ITALY	Robert Stimson University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Gerald Carlino Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, USA	Richard Morrill (deceased, 2024) University of Washington, USA	Michael Sonis (deceased, 2016) Bar-Ilan University, ISRAEL	David Plane University of Arizona, USA
Eric Verhoef VU University Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS	Henk Folmer Wageningen and Groningen Universities, THE NETHERLANDS
2009
Antoine Bailly (deceased, 2021) University of Geneva, SWITZERLAND	Richard Church University of California, Santa Barbara, USA	Bernard Fingleton University of Strathclyde, UK	Reginald Golledge (deceased, 2009) University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Peter Gordon University of Southern California, USA	Daniel Griffith University of Texas at Dallas, USA	Keith Ihlanfeldt Florida State University, USA	James LeSage Texas State University, USA
Janice Madden University of Pennsylvania, USA	Piet Rietveld (deceased, 2013) VU University Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS	Anthony Venables University of Oxford, UK
2008
T.R. Lakshmanan (deceased, 2020) Boston University, USA	Daniel McMillen University of Illinois at Chicago, USA	John McDonald University of Illinois at Chicago, USA	Jan Oosterhaven University of Groningen, THE NETHERLANDS
Harry W. Richardson University of Southern California, USA	Roger Stough (deceased, 2019) George Mason University, USA	Takatoshi Tabuchi University of Tokyo, JAPAN
2007
Yoshitsugu Kanemoto University of Tokyo, JAPAN	Harry H. Kelejian (deceased, 2024) University of Maryland, USA	Anna Nagurney University of Massachusetts, USA	Yorgos Y. Papageorgiou McMaster University, CANADA
Alan Wilson University College London, England, UK
2006
Alex Anas SUNY Buffalo, USA	Richard Arnott (deceased, 2023) Boston College, USA	Peter Batey University of Liverpool, UK	Manfred M. Fischer WU Wien, Vienna, AUSTRIA
Michael J. Greenwood University of Colorado, Boulder, USA	Kingsley Haynes George Mason University, USA	Tschango John Kim  University of Illinois, USA	Ann Markusen University of Minnesota, USA
John Parr (deceased, 2023) University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK	Kenneth A. Small University of California, Irvine, USA
2005
Marcus Berliant Washington University in Saint Louis, USA	Jan K. Brueckner University of California, Irvine, USA	Arthur Getis (deceased, 2022) San Diego State University, USA	David Pines Tel-Aviv University, ISRAEL
Karen R. Polenske Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
2004
Luc Anselin University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA	J. Vernon Henderson Brown University, USA	Peter Nijkamp Erasmus University, NETHERLANDS	John M. Quigley (deceased, 2012) University of California, Berkeley, USA
2003
Masahisa Fujita Kyoto University, JAPAN	Geoffrey J. D. Hewings University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA	Tony E. Smith University of Pennsylvania, USA	Jacques Thisse Catholic University of Louvain, BELGIUM
2002
RSAI Council initiated the RSAI Fellows Award to honour a select group of members of the Association who have made important scholarly and research contributions to the field of regional science. The inaugural Fellows were the living recipients of the Founder's Medal at that time
Walter Isard (deceased, 2010) Cornell University, USA	Martin Beckmann (deceased, 2017) Brown University, USA and Technical University of Munich, Germany	Jean Paelinck (deceased, 2025) Erasmus University, NETHERLANDS	David Boyce Northwestern University, USA

RSAI Fellows

RSAI fellows are distinguished scholars with a proven and recognized research record in the field of regional science during a considerable part of their scientific career. Such honoured members of the RSAI are appointed after a careful nomination and selection procedure, based on a broad consultation of the RSAI membership.

The RSAI fellowship is a world-wide sign of scientific recognition that is bestowed on a regional scientist with outstanding research credentials in his/her field. The RSAI fellowship does not imply any obligation to the Association, although it is expected that fellows on a voluntary basis will serve the scientific objectives of the RSAI whenever possible or appropriate.

Regional science has witnessed a great increase in scholarly interest and scientific publications all over the world. To create a vital Association, it is therefore critical that senior members - and, in particular, RSAI fellows – act as a role model, in particular for a younger generation. The RSAI membership should have the highest expectations on – and appreciation for – its fellows, given their past seminal research contributions.

RSAI fellows may contribute to the fulfillment of the goals of the Association by offering a scientific service or incentive to its members through various means, such as:

• Organization of a fellows’ meeting at any conference venue, where a major RSAI conference is taking place (ERSA, NARSC, PRSCO, World Conference). This could be a socializing meeting (e.g., a luncheon or late afternoon drinks) or a substantive meeting (e.g., an exploratory venue addressing future research strategies or topics).
• Organization of dedicated panels or focused fellows’ sessions at any major international or supraregional RSAI meeting with the aim to reflect on new methodologies or promising approaches in research.
• Organization of early-bird (breakfast) meetings, luncheon meetings or late afternoon drinks meetings with a small group of young researchers, based on an open subscription/application system, in which informal presentations (5-10 minutes) are held by young researchers (‘meet the professor’ meetings).
• Organization of a solid pre-conference special session at any major RSAI conference, with a balanced mix of seniors (in particular, RSAI fellows) and juniors (‘rising stars’), where fellows and rising stars present recent research work (in the long run, even joint senior-junior research work could be foreseen).
• Organization of short ‘next gen’ training courses, prior to any major conference.
• Organization of a voluntary ‘Foster Fellow Plan’, in which an RSAI fellow is willing to adopt for a period of (e.g.) one year a selected young researcher from a different country –in consultation with his/her supervisor – with the aim to provide network contacts or scientific guidance, or perhaps to start a joint research project.
• Organization of an RSAI column by a fellow in any issue of the RSAI Newsletter (after consultation of the Newsletter editors).

Any meeting or panel at conferences needs to be done in consultation with the conference organizers.

Limit on the Number of Fellows

1. An upper limit on the number of fellows is set at 5% of the membership of RSAI.
2. Fellows who are deceased are not counted in the upper limit on the number of fellows set out in 1 above.

Nomination and Selection Protocol of RSAI Fellows:

1. Each RSAI member - except RSAI fellows – is entitled to nominate candidates for the RSAI fellowship, but self-nominations are not allowed. Each nomination has to be done through a standard concise nomination form that follows a systematic template.
2. A nominee has to be RSAI member (or a member of any section recognized by the RSAI) and to meet the qualifications mentioned in Annex A.
3. The selection of new RSAI fellows takes place only once a year, but nominations can be sent in at any time and will be considered for a given selection round, if they have been received before a given deadline. A nomination has a maximum life of two years.
4. All nominations will be put on a list supplemented with non-elected candidates for the RSAI fellowship who were on the short list from the previous year.
5. The short list will be screened by the RSAI fellows selection committee (in consultation with the RSAI President and Executive Director). This committee comprises 3 RSAI fellows appointed by the RSAI Council for a period of staggered 3-year terms. The President and Executive Director will make the nominations for Council’s consideration unless Council sets up a special committee that handles this nomination process. The selection committee has to seriously consider all available information on the candidates and can remove candidates (unanimous vote) who do not qualify.
6. The selection committee can also decide to reduce the list of nominated RSAI members to a manageable number, so that candidates can be selected with a qualified majority. This short list should normally not contain more than 10 to 12 names and no fewer than 8 names (unless the number of nominations is fewer than eight).
7. The short list is next circulated to all RSAI fellows, who have the exclusive right to vote for (a maximum of) 3 candidate-fellows. No ranking of candidates is allowed.
8. The only upper ceiling that may be imposed on the number of candidates in a given year is a number that would result in exceeding the limit on the total number of Fellows permitted as a percentage of the membership of RSAI.
9. A vote of at least 1/3 will normally mean election, unless that would exceed the ceiling referred to in #8 above.
10. The selection committee informs the RSAI Director of the final selection results, who will communicate these results to the selected RSAI fellows, the RSAI Council, and the home institutions of the newly appointed fellows.

Standard Nomination Form for RSAI Fellows:

1. Factual bio-data on candidate, including a proof for RSAI membership
2. Professional career of candidate (max. 100 words)
3. Substantive contribution to regional science (max. 200 words)
4. Path-breaking publications on regional science (max. 5)
5. Signs of international scientific recognition (max. 50 words)
6. Reasons for nominating the candidate (max. 50 words)

To ensure full consideration by the committee, these materials should be provided in electronic format (pdf preferred) by April 15 of each year.

Submit nominations by April 15, 2025 to:

Ana Vinuela, RSAI Executive Director (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Call for submissions

2025 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 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 PhD program in any country is eligible,
2. A dissertation written in English,
3. A dissertation successfully defended, with official graduation date between July 1st 2024 and June 30th 2025,
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 a dissertation committee chairperson or supervisor) on stationary paper and with signature. The letter should clearly explain the dissertation’s originality and contributions to the field of regional science;
3. The dissertation.

Applications should be submitted electrically by August 31, 2025, to the Chair of the Selection Committee, Dimitris Ballas (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. 

Winners 

The Peter Nijkamp RSAI Research Encouragement Award for an Mid-Career Scholar from a Developing Country

Call for applications

The Peter Nijkamp Research Encouragement Award

The award recognizes the outstanding potential of a mid-career researcher from a nation in the developing world in which there is a section of RSAI. Conditions for applications are:

• No more than 10 years from the doctoral qualification (by Dec 31, 2022);
• Live in developing nations continuously for at least three years as at Dec 31, 2022;
• Be a member of RSAI in good standing;
• Submit a written formal research paper on a topic in Regional Science;
• Submit an updated version of CV.

All material must be submitted to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Nominees will be judged in part on the evaluation of the paper and in part on an evaluation of the research track record and performance (CV).

The winner(s) will receive support, up to 750 Euro, to participate in a Supra-Regional meeting or in the World Congress, at which the paper will be presented.

The jury will comprise the Immediate Past-President of RSAI as Chair, an Editor of Papers in Regional Science, and two RSAI Fellows.

Deadline for the applications: May 31, 2025. 

Winners

1. Goal 

The Award recognizes the outstanding potential of an mid-career researcher from a nation in the developing world and in which there is a formal Section of RSAI, and seeks to encourage the development of the early career scholar as a high quality researcher in the field of Regional Science and as a participant in the international Regional Science community.

2. The Award and Eligibility

2.1 The Award is established to recognize and honour the outstanding contribution Professor Peter Nijkamp, a Fellow of RSAI and an outstanding regional science researcher, has made to the encouragement and involvement of young scholars in Regional Science research and activities.

2.2 The Award recognizes the potential of outstanding scholarship in Regional Science in an mid-career researcher working in a developing nation where there is a Section of RSAI. 

2.3 Each year the RSAI Council will nominate a list of countries which it designates as a developing nation, and in which there is a Section of RSAI, for the purpose of eligibility for the purpose of the Award. 

2.4 Eligibility to apply for the Award is restricted to mid-career researchers, defined as person in full time employment in either a teaching or a research position in a university or research institution in a developing nation in which there is a member section of RSAI, and who has held their doctoral qualification for no more than ten (10) years as at the 31 December in the year in which they apply for the Award. 

2.5 An applicant for the Award must have been living in that or another developing nation continuously for at least the three year period from the 31 December of the year in which the application for the Award is made. 

2.6 An applicant for the Award must be a member of RSAI. 

2.7 The Award is made for what is judged in part on an evaluation of the quality of a written formal research paper on a topic in Regional Science, formatted in accordance with the requirements for submitting a paper Papers in Regional Science, and in part on an evaluation of the research track record and performance of the applicant as demonstrated in a full Curriculum Vitae.

2.8 RSAI will pay the costs of the winner of the Award to attend a meeting of one of the Supra-Regional organizations in RSAI (NARSC,ERSA, PRSCO) or the RSAI World Congress, participate in the conference, present paper at that meeting, and have the paper submitted for review and potential publication in Papers in Regional Science. The costs to be met by RSAI are an advance purchase air fare, conference registration, and accommodation at the conference. 

2.9 A winner of the Award will be presented with a certificate at the RSAI meeting at which the winner attends and presents the winning paper.

2.10 Up to two (2) Awards may be made in any one year.

3. Nomination Process

3.1 By April each year the Executive Director will contact members of RSAI and post on the RSAI website a notice calling for applications for the Peter Nijkamp RSAI Research Encouragement Award for an Mid-Career Scholar from a Developing Country Award.

3.2 An eligible mid-career researcher from an eligible developing nation may submit a paper and their CV to the RSAI Executive Secretary for consideration for the Award at any time up to the end of November of that year.

3.3 An applicant for the Award must provide the RSAI Executive Director with an electronic copy of a paper, formatted in accordance with the requirements for submitting a manuscript to Papers in Regional Science, that is intended to be presented or which has been accepted for presentation to a forthcoming NARSC, ERSA or PRSCO conference or the RSAI World Congress.

3.4 In addition, an applicant for the Award must provide the RSAI Executive Director with an electronic copy of their up-to-date CV.

4. Jury and Process for Recommending the Award

4.1 In the last quarter of each year, a four person Jury will be named by the RSAI Council to consider the nominations for the Peter Nijkamp RSAI Research Encouragement Award for an mid-Career Scholar from a Developing Country.

4.2 The Jury will comprise the Immediate Past-President of RSAI as Chair, an Editor of Papers in Regional Science, and two Fellows of RSAI.

4.3 The Jury will convene (in person and/or by email/teleconference) after 1 January in the following calendar year.

4.4 The Jury will evaluate the applications received and passed onto it by the RSAI Executive Director. The Jury will submit its recommendation(s) to the RSAI Executive Director by the end of February in that year.

4.5 The RSAI Executive Secretary will inform the winner(s) of the Award and, up to a limit of 750 € will  make arrangements for their travel to the Supra-Regional (NARSC, ERSA, PRSCO) meeting or the RSAI World Congress at which the paper will be presented.

4.6 The Award must be taken up and the winner(s) attend the conference nominated during that year or the Award will lapse.

4.7 The Award will be presented to the Awardee(s) at the meeting at which the paper is presented by the Awardee(s).