The call is now open for the submission of papers to be presented at the Bessemer Symposium in Economic Geography of Innovation to be hosted at the University of Sheffield on the 19th and 20th of September 2024.
This call is reserved to early-career researchers (ECRs), including doctoral students, post-doc researchers, and new lecturers (up to 5 years from completion of PhD).
The symposium is organised by the University of Sheffield in collaboration with the Innovation Research Caucus, the Office for National Statistics, and the British Academy.
The aim of the symposium is to bring together early-career researchers working on related topics, and to provide them with an opportunity to discuss their papers and ongoing research with more established researchers, who will also present their work. This symposium will discuss the latest advancements in the analysis of the economic geography of innovation, considering also new and alternative data and methods to analyse the spatial distribution of innovative activities, providing new insights about the geography of innovation and regional technological specialisation.
We encourage participants to apply with works linked, but not only limited, to the following topics:
- Spatial distribution of innovative activities
- Agglomeration, innovation and knowledge spillovers
- People, places and innovation
- Regional technological specialisation
- The geography of R&D and innovation collaborations
- The economic geography of green technologies and innovation
- Public policies for regional innovation
- New and alternative data and methods to measure R&D and innovation
- Economic geography analysis of innovation in all its different forms
Participants will have the chance to present one paper during the symposium. They also will have the opportunity to receive helpful feedback from distinguished scholars. A senior researcher is going to lead a discussion of the paper after each presentation.
The symposium will also feature a keynote speech by Prof. Neil Lee, Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics, a world-leading academic in the fields of economic geography, innovation, public policy, and inequality.
Attendants will also have the opportunity to attend a training session on advanced analysis of non-traditional innovation data sources led by Dr. Sergio Petralia from Utrecht University, including text mining and automated data collection using patents, publications, and GitHub data.
The symposium will also include a meet-the-editors session giving the opportunity to ECRs to discuss research publication with editors from top-ranked peer-reviewed international journals, such as Research Policy and Regional Studies.
To apply for the symposium, applicants must submit an extended abstract of the paper (maximum 3 pages) using the following online form. Deadline for submission is the 4th of August COP. Accepted submissions will be notified by the 12th of August, with registration required by the 8th of September.
The organisation will offer transportation, accommodation (1 night), and social dinner to all presenters.