Opportunities

The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) is accepting applications for its Democracy Fellowship, a year-long in-residence fellowship program for highly qualified independent journalists, scholars, and activists from Russia who are no longer able to continue their work due to Putin’s war in Ukraine. The fellowship will provide a critical lifeline to support independent voices who have been forced to leave their country or face a direct threat to their lives because of their willingness and courage to write, research, and provide truthful information to educate the public and policymakers.

Requests for emergency funding are considered when applicants can show that an intervention by the Foundation will help counter threats against their lives and/or those of members of their family and reinforce the visibility and pursuit of their activities at a strategic timing. The amount of funding requested may not exceed EUR 5,000. The request is such that it cannot be fully supported on an emergency basis by another national, regional or international organisation. The Foundation reserves the right to ask for any other explanation/documentation to the candidates if needed and to decide on whether it will provide full or partial support.

The IEF provides up to €10,000 and can be used to cover costs which will directly reduce the risk or impact of a digital attack. The funding covers activities for a maximum of four months, and we aim to respond to requests within two weeks.

The Crisis Response Fund (CRF) provides urgent funding to civil society actors who are 1) facing crises in freedom of assembly and association to conduct advocacy activities, or 2) looking to respond proactively to threats to civic freedoms through resiliency activities.

Since 2007, Freedom House has been providing short-term support to human rights defenders, civil society organizations and survivors of severe religious persecution in some of the world’s most repressive and conflict-ridden environments. This assistance reaches frontline activists and civil society organizations at their moment of greatest need. It has helped them survive attacks, given them the means to resume their critical work, and in many cases literally saved lives.

In 2001 Front Line Defenders launched its Protection Grants programme, to provide rapid and practical financial support to human rights defenders at risk. Protection Grants can pay for provisions to improve the security and protection of human rights defenders and their organisations.

The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program is a federally funded, international exchange program that offers democracy activists, journalists, civil society leaders, and scholars from around the world the opportunity to spend five months in residence at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), in Washington, D.C., in order to undertake independent research on democracy in a particular country or region. The program offers five-month fellowships for practitioners to improve strategies and techniques for building democracy abroad and five-month fellowships for scholars to conduct original research for publication.

The purpose of the Fellowship is to contribute to the professional development of aspiring journalists in the countries of the EU’s Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans in support of media freedom and independence. Fellows will be selected on a competitive basis from Eastern Partnership and Western Balkans countries and placed with a local RFE/RL bureau. They will be integrated into the daily work of the bureau, where they will work on a full-time basis to produce content across all journalistic platforms and participate in editorial discussions under the supervision and mentoring of professional RFE/RL colleagues. As a result of the program, Fellows are expected to strengthen their journalistic skills and knowledge, develop their editorial judgment, expand their professional networks, and deepen their understanding of the role of an independent press in their country. English-language proficiency is not required. Journalists from Ukraine are eligible to apply.

This database is an initiative of the Forum Solidarity Task Force and contains information on different types of emergency resources for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), including journalists, artists, lawyers and researchers. The majority of assistance programmes in this database are designed for HRDs from Russia, the EU and the countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Professional freelance journalists working in news and current affairs whose only source of income comes from journalism can apply for assistance funds.

The Assistance Desk of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) provides financial and administrative assistance to professional journalists and citizen-journalists who have been the victims of reprisals because of their reporting. Requests for help can be sent at any time.

The Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom has a fellowship program that provides support for political refugees and immigrants who were forced to leave their country, but still want to engage in their homeland’s social scene and political affairs.

This database gives an overview of organizations which offer medical support, support for veterans and internally displaced persons, support for religious and ethnic minorities, support for LGBTQIA+ and children. It is regularly updated.

Professors, researchers and public intellectuals from any country/any discipline who face threats and
holds a Ph.D. or highest degree in their field and have significant experience in research or teaching are eligible to search the fellowship. The fellowship is 25.000$ for a one year period, which is extendable to maximum 2 years. The fellowship is granted quarterly, meaning there is no deadline.

Fellowship for highly qualified international scientists and scholars from all disciplines who completed their doctorates less than 12 years ago and wish to spend extended periods of research in Germany are invited to apply. The fellowship is worth 3,000 EUR per month. The amount includes a mobility lump sum and payments towards health and liability insurances. Applications can be submitted at any time.. The Selection Committee responsible for reviewing applications to this programme meets every March, July, and November.

The Library Access Initiative by the The New University in Exile Consortium provides stranded endangered scholars with remote access to the electronic materials available via consortium member-institution libraries. Eligible are scholars who hold a Ph.D. or who are in the last year of their Ph.D. with no access to research resources due to armed conflict.