The Regional Studies Association

The Regional Studies Association is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1084165).

The Regional Studies Association describes itself as the international, interdisciplinary community for regional research, development and policy. Its charitable aims are to promote education in regional studies through the exchange of ideas and information, and to stimulate and aid research into regional planning, development and functions and disseminate its results. It works through publishing, global conferences and events, research funding, awards, territorial and thematic networks, knowledge exchange, policy engagement, and training and capacity building. It makes grants to academic institutions for early career researchers and to RSA members and fellows for discrete pieces of regional studies research, and its annual report gives total awards of £116,560.

Priority Areas

The Regional Studies Association supports regional studies and regional science through grants for researchers at different career stages and for researcher teams. Its schemes support discrete research projects, RSA members and fellows, Research Networks, and short collaborations that deliver practical benefit to non-academic organisations. It also backs policy-facing work that connects regional research with policymakers and practitioners, and offers capacity-building support for researchers in emerging economies and the Global South. Research may come from any discipline and addresses regional development, with an open and plural understanding of regions. Some funding routes require RSA membership and affiliation with a higher education institution; collaborative schemes bring members together with non-academic beneficiaries. The association supports research, knowledge exchange and the use of evidence to inform policy and practice.

Themes

• Infrastructure and security
• Regional resilience
• Urbanisation and development
• Innovation and technology
• Governance and planning
• Climate and sustainability
• Spatial justice

Geographic Focus

Worldwide.

For KPEG, applicants submit the online form and upload the signed Project Application Sign Off.

Deadlines: KPEG applications are considered at two points in the year.

Application windows:

• Knowledge and Policy Exchange Grant
  • Applications open in May.
  • Applications open in October.
• Research Network Grant Scheme: The application deadline is in October.
• Policy Expo Grant Scheme: The submission deadline is in November.

Who can apply:

• Knowledge and Policy Exchange Grant
  • RSA Individual or Early Career members at a recognised HEI
  • Open to RSA Individual and Early Career members affiliated to a Higher Education Institution.
• Research Network Grant Scheme: The Research Network must be organised and managed by RSA members, with all organisers remaining members of the Association throughout the entire duration of the Research Network. A Research Network is made up of individuals from different countries, although they can be from any membership category.

What to send:

• Knowledge and Policy Exchange Grant
  • Download the KPEG Project Application Sign Off and obtain signatures from your Head of Department/Unit and the named contact at the beneficiary organisation. Save this as a PDF.
  • Find your RSA Membership number
  • Upload the signed Project Application Sign Off to the online form

What the charity says:

• KPEG applications are assessed in order of receipt until the fund is fully allocated.
• KPEG projects must deliver direct, practical benefit to a non-academic beneficiary organisation.
• Research Networks should address RSA priorities and issues of concern to members and non-members.
• Policy Expos should address issues that are important, current and having an impact on society.
• KPEG recipients must provide a case study one month after the project concludes, evidencing its outcomes.