II YSI – RSA Young Scholars’ Academy on Regional Studies

The YSI Urban and Regional Economics Working Group and the Regional Studies Association invite PhD Students and Early Career Researchers to apply for the second YSI – RSA Young Scholars’ Academy on Regional Studies, a side event to be held before the 2024 Regional Studies Annual Conference in Florence, Italy.

The YSI – RSA Academy is dedicated to uniting an enthusiastic cohort of PhD students and early-career researchers specializing in Regional Economics, Economic Geography, Urban Planning and related disciplines within the field of Regional Studies. The Academy serves as a platform for showcasing their research, fostering mutual learning experiences, and garnering constructive and detailed feedback from both peers and esteemed professors who have made significant contributions to the realm of Regional Studies and act as mentors. Hence, the event serves both as a conduit for young scholars to improve their ongoing research project and to forge connections within a vibrant research community.
The Academy provides ample time for each participant to present & discuss their working papers. Additionally, lectures by our mentors about their current work provide young scholars with the latest insights into on-going and top-level research in the field.

This year we are particularly interested in research which takes a critical perspective on regional development, especially in the context of the green & digital (twin-) transition. Hence, we invite abstracts related to the following themes:

• Spatial inequalities in the context of the twin transition
• Degrowth & post-growth in regions
• The dark side of innovation
• The climate & ecological crisis and regional development
• Digitalisation & artificial intelligence
• Extractivism, natural resources and regional development
• Fair transition in regions
• Smart cities and urban development
• Regional resilience, adaptation & sustainability
• Trade & global value chains in the green transition
• Regional energy systems
• etc.

Those interested in interdisciplinary research, especially bridging a gap between topics are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Process

Step 1: PhD Students and Early Career Researcher (5 years post PhD) are invited to submit an extended abstract (between 800 and 1200 words) of their research before 30th January 2024. Please submit your abstract via the application icon on this homepage.

Abstracts will be selected based on clarity, relevance and originality, outlining the research question, method and (preliminary) results. We will inform selected applicants by 1st of March and subsequently invite them to proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: The selected young scholars are expected to submit a full working paper version before April 1st, 2023 (via email, instructions will follow). Only participants who submit a full paper (draft version is okay) will be able to join the academy. We aim to welcome up to 12 young scholars.

Financial support

During the abstract submission process you can indicate your need for financial support. For selected participants the YSI will cover two nights of accommodation in shared apartments or shared hotel rooms (June 9th to June 11th). Also partial travel support, which is intended to complement your own resources, is available for selected participants. The workshop is free of charge.

Please note that admission to the pre-conference workshop does not extend towards admission to the main RSA annual conference. We do however encourage workshop participants see this as an opportunity to attend the main RSA conference following the workshop. You can register for the RSA Annual Conference here. The RSA also has a number of conference bursuries, more information here