This provides an excellent opportunity to address a range of important methodological issues with geodemographic classifications, and to build better visualisation methods for dissemination that will maximise engagement and create more opportunities for public feedback. As such, the key research deliverables of this award will be: to evaluate alternate clustering methodologies that create more stable assignments of areas into clusters; to design new geographically sensitive methods of measurement that inform the underlying indicator variables used to create the classification; to develop and evaluate new modes of dissemination which better utilise web based technology and new advances in GIS.

The successful candidate is likely to have a background in GIS or computer science, and will have as a minimum an upper second or first class degree. The applicant will be a home (UK) or EU student. Applicants should email a curriculum vitae and supporting statement to Professor Paul Longley at the Department of Geography, University College London: plongley@geog.ucl.ac.uk. The closing date for applications is Friday 27 August 2010, with interviews planned for the following week.

Population Geography Research Group (PopGRG) (Joanna Stillwell Prize)

This prize is named in memory of the daughter of Professor John Stillwell of the University of Leeds. Joanna, who was a geography graduate from the University of Sheffield, died in 2004.  The Population Geography Research Group has set up three prizes (£100 for first prize; £50 for second prize; £25 for third prize) to be awarded for the best undergraduate dissertations of 2009 in the broad field of Population Geography.  Please note that for practical purposes we can only accept one dissertation from any institution and to be eligible that institution has to be in the UK.  Please send a copy of the dissertations to Dr Sam Scott, School for Policy Studies, 8 Priory Road, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TZ (Sam.Scott@bristol.ac.uk).  Deadline 31 July 2010

http://www.rgs.org/DissertationAwards

Contemporary Labour Migration: National and International Perspectives

Hosted by NUI Galway under the auspices of the Population Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG and Population Commission of the International Geographical Union

Papers are invited for an Anglo-Irish population conference on Labour Migration. Whilst there is a focus on Ireland and the UK, papers that address the broad conference themes in other geographical contexts will be most welcome.

Major changes have taken place in the scale and character of labour migration in the UK and Ireland since the early 1990s, involving both national and international workers. Established patterns of movement have continued within and between rural and urban regions; both countries also experienced dramatic increases in overseas labour immigration from the early 1990s on, to fill vacancies in highly skilled and lower skilled employment. Both countries, with Sweden, opened their borders immediately in 2004 to members of the new accession states of the European Union to meet labour deficits. In response to reduced rates of economic growth since 2008, demand for labour has fallen and new challenges have emerged for labour, employers and governments. New migration patterns are apparent, associated with migrant return to countries of origin and relocation within and between regions. Ireland and the UK provide similarities but also contrasts in terms of labour migration, in particular the diversity of the former’s immigrant flows. Both countries are currently facing crises in their labour markets which are finding expression in changing migration patterns, a phenomenon that is not exclusive to them. This experience provides a context for exploring and developing existing and new theoretical perspectives relating to internal and international migration.

Papers are invited on the following themes in particular:

(i) the socio-economic and political contexts of recent labour migration, including the role of employers, national governments and international agencies in the migration process;
(ii) the composition of migration flows at an international scale and impacts in source and reception areas;
(iii) the internal and transnational labour migration experience within urban and rural settings;
(iv) the transnational labour migrant experience in the broader host society.

Abstracts (max. 300 words) are invited by Tuesday 6th April 2010: http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=90.

Guest Speaker: Professor Adrian J. Bailey, University of Leeds and Hong Kong Baptist University will deliver a plenary address on Recession, Labour Migration, and Europe’s Transnational Turn, at 18:30 on 12th May, in the D’Arcy Thompson Theatre.

Graduate Bursaries: A limited number of graduate bursaries are available on a competitive basis to cover the cost of the registration fee, (sponsored by the Dean of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies): http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=90.

Registration commences at 10:30 on Wednesday 12th May followed by buffet lunch at 12:00.  The Conference opens at 13:00 on the 12th May and closes at 17:00 on Thursday 13th of May.
Conference web site:
http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=90

Organisers
Darren Smith, Chair, RGS-IBG Population Geography Research Group  d.smith@brighton.ac.uk
Mary Cawley: mary.cawley@nuigalway.ie
Marie Mahon: marie.mahon@nuigalway.ie
Valerie Ledwith: valerie.ledwith@nuigalway.ie
School of Geography and Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway

Papers are invited, consisting of abstracts of maximum 300 words. The deadline for submission is 12th March 2010.

For submissions and further inforamtion please see: www.nuigalway.ie/labour_migration/conference/

https://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/lsewebsite/bsps2010/

More information is available in this pdf.

Full details of the programme are still to be confirmed but will include: parallel sessions running over three days, poster presentations, keynote speaker addresses, and this year will offer an innovative panel session, allowing with contributors drawn from a range of backgrounds (e.g. public sector and charity) showing how aspects of population studies might be applied in different contexts.

The first call for papers has now been made, and is open to all postgraduate researchers engaged in the study of human populations from any social science discipline. Submissions for works-in-progress or completed reports are all welcome.

Themes might include, but are certainly not limited to:
*Health and populations
*Migration
*Reproductive and sexual behaviour
*Social participation and active citizenship
*Fertility and contraception
*Childhood and youth
*Innovative data uses and methodological approaches in population studies

Oral presentations will be 15 minutes long with 5 minutes for questions. There will also be one dedicated poster session.

For full details of the event including a downloadable call for papers, submission guidelines, how to register, how to arrange accommodation, travel information, information about the area and details of the organising committee, please visit: www.popfest.org.uk

You can also register for email updates about the event, and contact the organisers directly with any questions via popfest2010@st-andrews.ac.uk

Workshop: Exploring population and health trends – the ONS Longitudinal Study
Time: 14.00-16.30
Date: Friday, 22 January 2010
Venue: Room 46AD03, The University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH

The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) offers a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales. It draws its data from each Census (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 so far), linking the information (on both individual and household) together to form a developing history for each sample member. Data are also drawn from the Registrar General’s birth and death records, among other sources. It is a very important data source for many fundamental population studies. Recent topics of LS research have included inequalities in life expectancy, health and socio-economic status; a profile of the ‘oldest old’; migration trends; the outcomes of cohabitation; the effects of childlessness and of single parenthood in women; and the changing ethnic distribution of the population.

Despite the importance of the LS it remains little-known outside government departments, and yet it is not difficult to use. The aim of this workshop is to describe the LS, some possible research uses of it and how to access it; and to offer hands-on experience of analysing the LS by means of specimen datasets. The Longitudinal Studies of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be briefly described, as will the other Census data resources available for academic use in England and Wales.

Hands-on exercises will use SPSS; guidance will be provided for those unfamiliar with it.

The workshop is free to attend, booking and further information is available here.

Espaces, Populations, Sociétés is an interdisciplinary and international journal, and has published original contributions in French, English and Spanish since 1983. Espaces, Populations, Sociétés is a thematic journal, with each issue focussing on a specific topic.

In this special issue the aim is to present a variety of empirical and conceptual papers which illuminate risks for health in societies, as operating at and across different geographic levels from the local, regional, national and international levels, and in developing and developed countries.

Papers are sought which address risks for health in societies in various ways, through the development of theoretical and conceptual frameworks, analysis of primary or secondary empirical data, qualitative or quantitative review of existing literature, or policy analysis. For example, this might include:

-     The unequal distribution of risks for health within and across societies, vulnerability and resilience

-     The influence of social, economic, cultural and policy context for risk and health

-     New and emerging (infectious) diseases and sanitary crisis

-     New risks and uncertainties for health

-     The impact of globalisation on health

The co-editors of the thematic issue on Health, Risk, and Society are: Alain Vaguet, Department of Geography, University of Rouen (Upper Normandy), France. Laboratory CNRS-IDEES, 6266. Mylene Riva, Department of Geography, Institute of Hazard and Risk Research, and the Wolfson Research Institute, Durham University, UK.

Ideas should initially be submitted in the form of a 350 word abstract by 15th January 2010, send by email to alain.vaguet@univ-rouen.fr and mylene.riva@durham.ac.uk.  Decision of acceptance of abstracts is 15th February 2010. Final date for submitting articles will be April 30th 2010.

The successful candidate will hold a PhD in Human Geography, or closely related discipline and will have an internationally-recognised publication record as well as a proven track record of high quality teaching and supervision. Junior applicants who have already begun to establish a strong research record will also be considered. The successful candidate will be expected to teach and/or coordinate undergraduate and postgraduate Human Geography courses, supervise postgraduate students and contribute to the effective functioning of the programme.

Reference A259-09Q

Applications close 31 October 2009

For further information and to apply online visit: http://vacancies.vuw.ac.nz

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