Do you have a regional research question that would benefit from bringing the right people into the same room? The RSA Research Network Grant Scheme could help you do exactly that. We are inviting RSA members to submit proposals for new and renewing Research Networks, and we would love to hear your ideas.
What is an RSA Research Network?
Research Networks are groups of RSA members who come together to explore an issue that matters to the Association, to our members and to the wider community beyond it. Your topic does not need a direct policy focus, but we expect your work to lead to policy-relevant conclusions.
Networks run workshops, conference sessions, webinars and collaborative projects. They often grow into lasting international communities, connecting established scholars with early career researchers and academics with practitioners.
Funding of up to £11,000 is available for new networks and up to £8250 for renewing networks.
The work our networks are doing now
Our current networks show how varied and ambitious this work can be:
- Financial Geographies (FinGeo) examines how money and finance shape places and regional economies.
- Knowledge, Innovation and Regional Development in South America (KIRDSA) builds understanding of innovation-led development across the continent.
- Peripheries and Peripherality (EdgeNet) focuses on places at the margins and what it means to be “peripheral”.
- Municipalism and Regional Fiscal Geographies (MuniFisc) explores local government finance and the fiscal relationships between places.
- Bridging Governance Gaps in City-regions uses comparative research to address land take and city-region building.
- Green(ing) Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development (GGVC4SRD) asks how global production networks can support greener regional futures.
- Urban Policy for Sustainable Urban Manufacturing (UP-SUM) looks at how cities can keep and grow sustainable production.
- VOICES: Visions on Inequality, Community, Exclusion, and Spatial Justice centres questions of fairness and belonging across places.
- Uneven and Combined Transitions: Energy, Justice and the Global South examines who wins and who loses in the energy transition.
- Infrastructural Regionalisms (NOIR) investigates how infrastructure shapes regional lives, governance and development.
From finance to energy justice, and from manufacturing to peripheral places, these networks show there is room for a wide range of topics and approaches.
What we’re looking for
All Research Networks should support the priorities set out in the RSA Strategy 2026–30:
- championing high-quality regional research
- strengthening regional research and knowledge networks
- growing and diversifying the regional studies community
- contributing to a just and sustainable future
The Research Committee assess proposals on four points:
- whether the topic is of interest to the RSA and its members
- how well the network will encourage wide participation
- how it will promote the RSA by sharing and reporting its findings
- whether the plans are financially viable
Who can apply?
The scheme is open to RSA members in any membership band (A, B, C or D), and we welcome proposals from students and early career researchers as well as more established members. Network organisers should come from different countries, so that each network brings international perspectives from the start. Every organiser named on the application must be a current RSA member when applying and must stay a member for the life of the network.
How to apply
Full details, including guidance on budgets and reporting, are in the Research Network Handbook 2026. You can also read more on the Research Network Grant Scheme page.
Applications close on 12 October 2026. We look forward to seeing your proposals.