Redalyc: Comunidad de estudios territoriales

The Mexican National Workers Housing Fund Institute (Infonavit)
through its Digital Housing Information Network
in collaboration with the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de
México
(UAEMex)
through the Scientific Information System Redalyc

Call for proposals to the fourth Latin American Award for Research
Thesis Projects on Sustainable Housing Infonavit-Redalyc

In order to recognize the main results of postgraduate research theses in topics related to housing in Latin America, we seek to contribute to the creation and dissemination of new knowledge, analysis methods and strategies on topics of interest for the cities in the region. All those interested are invited to present proposals under the following

Proposal Requirements

Master and Doctoral theses to obtain the degree in higher education institutions, whose study programs have the recognition of Secretaries, Boards, Ministries or legal education authorities corresponding to each country, may participate. The call for proposals is open to contestants of all the interested countries, as long as the theses deal with housing in Latin America, in the following categories and topics:

Category A. Basic Research (theoretical or theoretical and practical)

1.1 Housing finance

Financial schemes and subsidies application
Analysis of financing policies

1.2 Housing and community

Accessibility for vulnerable groups
Neighborhood organization
Participatory design of housing and neighborhood
Social impact of housing
Segregation
Housing for the most vulnerable sectors
Instruments for measuring social impact and capital, social and housing welfare.

1.3 Planning for housing development

Urban Planning
Urban Infrastructure
Territorial planning instruments
Housing and transportation

1.4 Housing Information Systems

Housing observatories
Construction standards information database

1.5 Housing and land

Land management processes
Regulatory and fiscal instruments
Urban densification

1.6 Housing and environment

House construction and urban morphology
Public Space
Security

Category B. Research applied to concrete realities with tangible results

2.1 Housing and Environment

Neighborhood and housing bioclimatic design
Evaluation of housing energy efficiency and environmental impact.
Development of ecotechnologies
Construction materials, techniques and processes aimed at energy efficiency, water saving and reduction of environmental impact
Waste management and recycling in the neighborhood and in the house.

2.2 Construction

Housing construction industrialized systems
Development of new materials and construction techniques for massive house building
House Architectural Type

2.3 Organization and Citizen Participation

New methodologies oriented to neighborhood organization
Development of information technologies designed to facilitate and promote citizen participation in housing, neighborhood and the city

2.4 Reconstruction and urban regeneration

Neighborhoods rescue plan
Urban zones regeneration
Urban Recycling
Gentrification

2. Registration

Registration and document reception will be via e-mail: premio.tesis.vivienda@gmail.com.
Registration forms must be downloaded from the Territorial Studies Community website http://estudiosterritoriales.org.

Applications in paper or personally delivered will not be accepted.

Physical documents will not be received.

All the participant theses will be uploaded the Internet, in locked PDF format, within the Digital Library of Infonavit and they will also be uploaded to the Territorial Studies Community. They will be disseminated along with the author’s resume, always respecting the preservation of the moral rights of intellectual property.

The participation will be only for theses which were completed and defended between June 1st 2009 and Tuesday, May 15, 2012.

All the theses dated before the established date will not be able to participate.

The theses must be submitted in one of the official languages of the award (Spanish, Portuguese or English), regardless of the language in which was originally written to obtain the degree.

Theses that have been published in full or whose author copyrights have been transferred to third parties will not be able to contest.

The participant theses should not be competing simultaneously in any other call, they should not have obtained another award and they should not have participated in this award on the previous version.

To protect the original format of documents, only PDF documents without a password will be accepted. The contest website provides information regarding the conversion to this format.

Contestants are invited to obtain the Creative Commons license, at http://creativecommons.org/international for the documents they submit, in order to guarantee the compliance to the moral rights of intellectual property.

Workers from the National Workers Housing Fund Institute (Infonavit), as well as workers from the Scientific Information System Redalyc cannot submit an application.

3. Required Documents

Contestants must send the following documents to premio.tesis.vivienda@gmail.com

1. Registration form (the form can be found in the award webpage, as an excel file).
2. Declaration of originality (the form can be found in the award webpage, as a PDF file).
3. Letter of acceptance, so that, by the end of the contest, the thesis is disseminated online in the Infonavit documentary heritage and in the Territorial Studies Community, along with your curriculum vitae (the form can be found on the award webpage, as a PDF file).
4. Submission letter, written by the participant, including: name of the thesis advisor or editor, and the three main reasons why this thesis should win the award (a maximum of 1500 words in a PDF file).
5. A summary, including theoretical and methodological framework, analytical tools and key results of the thesis (a maximum of 1500 words,in a PDF file).
6. Full text of the thesis presented in the defense examination, without locks. If there are headlines within the thesis including the author's name, you must send an additional copy without the headlines (in a PDF file).
7. Final examination Act of the thesis dissertation or defense, or the equivalent document (in a PDF file).
8. If the applicant considers this appropriate, he or she may submit a letter issued by his tutor-director highlighting the achievements in the research (optional).
9. For the dissemination of the thesis in the Territorial Studies Community website , the author should submit:

a. A resume of his or her academic background. Provide the following information briefly (no more than 15 lines): contact e-mail, last academic degree and where it was obtained, the institution where he or she works, specialty, the reference to his most recent publications (books, magazines , presentations, blogs, among others, with hyperlinks if they are on the internet), some other relevant academic information that he or she wishes to highlight (in a Word file).
b. Color photograph (300 x 300 pixels at low resolution) in any of the following formats: jpeg, gif, jpg.

4. Prizes

For Category A. Basic research (theoretical or practical theoretical)

First Place: $3.500 USD, a commemorative sculpture by the Mexican artist Hersúa, publication of the work and transportation to the awards ceremony.

Second Place: $2.000 USD, a commemorative sculpture by the Mexican artist Hersúa, publication of the work and transportation to the awards ceremony.

Third Place: $1.000 USD, a commemorative sculpture by the Mexican artist Hersúa, publication of the work and transportation to the awards ceremony.

For Category B. Applied research with tangible realities

First Place: $3,500 USD, , a commemorative sculpture by the Mexican artist Hersúa, publication of the work and transportation to the awards ceremony.

If the jury appoints an honorable mention, which should be unanimously given, the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México will provide his transportation to the awards ceremony

The Permanent Secretariat will determine the format and date of publication of the winning theses.

5. Evaluation

The selection of the theses will consider originality, rigor and relevance of scientific knowledge in the field of sustainable housing studies, among other criteria. Each thesis will be evaluated anonymously by two arbitrators. In case of discrepancy between the results, the text will be sent to a third arbitrator, whose decision will define the final evaluation. Honorable mentions will be granted only when the grading committee determines it unanimously. The grading committee may declare any of the places void. The decision of the grading committee is final. The prizes are indivisible. The designation of the awards will be notarized.

6. Grading Committee

It is formed by renowned scholars in the field of housing studies in Latin America. We will also have a quality grading committee, consisting of renowned personalities who are linked to the housing sector in Mexico. The members of the Grading Committee will be made known in due course in the Territorial Studies Community website http://estudiosterritoriales.org

President of the Academic Grading Committee:

Dr. Francisco Sabatini, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Honorary members of the Academic Grading Committee:

Dr. Horacio Capel, Universidad de Barcelona
Dr. Carlos A. De Mattos, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Dr. René Coulomb, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco

Permanent secretariat

Dra. Nadiezhda de la Uz Blanco, representative of the National Workers Housing Fund Institute (Infonavit)
Dra. Rosario Rogel Salazar, representative of the Redalyc Territorial Studies Community

7. Dates

Registration begins on February 7th, 2012
Registration closes on June 1st, 2012.
The results will be announced in the last week of August in the Territorial Studies Community website http://estudiosterritoriales.org.
The award ceremony will be held in December 2012 in Mexico City. The Permanent Secretariat will inform on any changes on the date to the winners at an appropriate time.

Anything that has not been considered in this call for proposals shall be resolved by the Permanent Secretariat.

For more information:
premio.tesis.vivienda@gmail.com
http://estudiosterritoriales.org
Facebook: Comunidad De Estudios Territoriales
Twitter: @PremioTesis

After the awards ceremony, the winners must comply with the editorial regulations for the publication of their work, as well as with the established time periods. If the winners do not fulfill this requirement, the members of the Permanent Secretariat might suggest canceling the publication.