Fellowships are a great opportunity to pursue that research idea or special project you’ve been mulling over the past few years, or to update your training on the latest tools or reporting techniques.
Programs at U.S. universities will give you the weeks, months or year away from the newsroom to dedicate to career development.
Below we’ve gathered well-known fellowships open to journalists from around the world. They are ordered by application deadline, nearest first.
Good luck!
Twenty fellows are selected for this week-long fellowship in April 2018 at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in Athens. The program covers digital media topics like cybersecurity, mobile videography, data journalism, ethical and legal issues and more. Professional journalists with more than five years of experience may apply. Application deadline is Nov. 18, 2018.
These fellowships, located at Stanford University in California, bring up to 20 fellows together “to work on ideas to address the most urgent problems facing journalism.” For 10 months, fellows work on individual or collaborative projects, participate in special workshops and weekly events, use resources on the Stanford campus and in Silicon Valley and can sit in on classes. Deadline is Dec. 4, 2018 for international applicants and Jan. 31 2019 for U.S. applicants.
Up to 24 journalists working in print, broadcast, digital and audiovisual media will spend two semesters at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, attending seminars, shop talks, master classes and journalism conferences. The aim is to strengthen professional skills and leadership capabilities. Applicants must have at least five years of full-time media experience. Deadline is Dec. 1, 2018 for international applicants and Jan. 31, 2019 for U.S. applicants.
This fellowship is a collaboration between the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Fellows will work on a specific course of research or project related to journalism innovation. Fellows are a bridge between the Nieman and Berkman Klein fellowship programs and will fully participate in both. Deadline for international journalists is Dec. 1, 2018. anf Jan. 31, 2019 for U.S. journalists.
The fellowship is open to science journalists from around the world who will join the cohort of Nieman Fellows. They will have access to the schools, labs and research centers at Harvard University as well as the opportunity to take classes at other local universities. Additionally, they may interact with the scientific community in and around Greater Boston. Deadline is Dec. 1, 2018 for international journalists and Jan. 31, 2019 for U.S. journalists.
Up to 20 fellows are selected for an 8-month program of immersive study at the University of Michigan. Fellows will have individual study plans, access to specialized resources and experts, participate in private seminars and workshops and have the chance for international travel. Deadline is Dec. 1, 2018 for international applicants and Feb. 1, 2019 for U.S. applicants.
This opportunity, which is not a residency fellowship, gives journalists editorial and financial support to “produce a significant investigative or enterprise story that provides fresh insight into an important business, financial or economic topic.” The fellowship is linked to the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. Applicants must have at least five years of professional experience in journalism. International applicants can apply if stories have a strong U.S. angle and the work is published in English, in a U.S.-based media outlet. Deadline for Winter 2019 Fellowships is Dec. 14, 2018.
This 9-month fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is offered to 10 science journalists who will design their own course of study and produce a research project, with a final formal presentation. Fellows will complete coursework, attend departmental colloquia, take research trips, participate in digital media training, make lab visits, conduct interviews, and more. Applicants must have at least three full years of experience covering science, technology, the environment or medicine. The application cycle runs from Jan. 1, 2019 to Feb. 28, 2019.
Ten fellows will be chosen for this year-long business fellowship at the Columbia Journalism School in New York City. Fellows will take courses at the university’s graduate schools of journalism, business, law and international affairs, as well as participate in seminars with media, corporate and tech practitioners, and meet with media CEOS, editors and journalism entrepreneurs. Applicants must have at least four years of experience in business/economics/ financial journalism. Application deadline is Jan. 31, 2019.
In part, this fellowship at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School aims to “advance research in the field of media, politics and public policy.” Eight fellows are selected each year for a one-semester residential fellowship that involves presenting research and ideas at weekly research meetings with their peers. Application deadline for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 terms is Feb. 1, 2019.
