ERC will support visits of journalists at research institutions

On 15 September 2022, the European Research Council (ERC) opened a call to support science journalism. The extraordinary “Science Journalism Initiative“ aims to facilitate understanding between scientists and journalists, strengthen high-quality reporting on scientific topics and deepen comprehension of everyday scientific work and importance of its results in the society.

The programme will take the form of individual stays of journalists at research institutions of their choice, including those hosting ERC teams. Thanks to the initiative, journalists will get better acquainted with the functioning of research organisations and take a sneak peek into how large-scale and ambitious research projects are carried out.

Through the call, the ERC will support an organisation or a consortium of organisations that will design as well as manage the whole fellowship programme. The project must comply with the requirements for Coordination and Support Actions (CSA). The call foresees one proposal to be selected. The expected duration of the programme is 48 months. The max. budget the winner will be granted is 1.5 mil. EUR. Each fellowship stay shall last 3-5 months. The call allows for the use of the cascade funding mechanism (i.e., Financial Support to Third Parties, FSTP).

Proposals must be submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal of the European Commission. The deadline for applications is 15 December 2022. Results shall be announced in February 2023. The programme is expected to be launched in May 2023.

More details about the initiative can be found on the ERC website.