Milena Jesenská Fellowship for Journalists 2025-26

Deadline: 15 January 2025

The Institute for Human Sciences is seeking applications for the Milena Jesenská Fellowship Program that offers European (including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey) journalists time off from their professional duties in order to pursue in-depth research on a topic of their choice.

Milena Jesenská Fellowships are intended as an award for excellence and are directed towards cultural journalists, with the term cultural being interpreted in a broad sense to encompass a wide variety of intellectual and artistic fields. However, applicants’ work may also be related to one of the IWM’s main research fields.

Applicants must have worked in print, broadcast or online journalism for several years and must have an outstanding professional record. Applications by entry-level journalists or students will be rejected.

Funding Information

They will receive a stipend of EUR 3,300 per month.

Eligibility Criteria

During the next fellowship term (September 2025–June 2026), Milena Jesenská Visiting Fellows are invited to spend three months at the IWM in Vienna, Austria.
In addition, the IWM provides them with an office including access to the internet, administrative and research facilities as well as other services free of charge.
Generally, fellowships start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month.

Application Requirements

Application materials consist of the following:
- A brief letter of motivation that addresses how the project would benefit from time at the IWM, the connection to the IWM’s mission and research, and concrete research/writing goals during the fellowship
- A project description (max. 550 characters)
- A project proposal (max. 7,500 characters incl. spaces) containing:
  - A description of the project’s objectives,
  - A discussion of the current state of the art,
  - Methods,
  - A work plan
- A curriculum vitae including a list of publications.
- Two letters of recommendation are required: At least one from an editor, fellow journalist, or publisher. If applicable, one recommendation letter can also be provided by a scholar familiar with the applicant’s work (has to be submitted by the applicant together with the other application materials).
- All application materials should be in English.