Nieman Fellowship program was started in early 1938 with a generous gift of $1 million to Harvard University by Agnes Wahl Nieman. The main objective for starting the fellowship program was to elevate the quality and standard of journalism and educate persons deemed especially qualified for journalism. The Nieman Foundation is currently inviting applications for the Global Health Reporting Fellowships Program. These fellowships are awarded each year to two journalists committed to global health reporting.
About the Fellowship
One fellowship is given to a journalist who is a U.S. citizen and one to a non-U.S. citizen. During the Nieman year, the Global Health Fellows pursue a concentrated course of study at Harvard’s School of Public Health and have access to faculty and courses across the university. At the conclusion of the academic year at Harvard, the fellows will begin a period of journalistic fieldwork in a developing country that may last for up to four months. The fieldwork, which is funded by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, is intended to provide an intensive learning and reporting experience in countries with the most pressing problems in global health.
After fellows finish their fieldwork, they are expected to produce material based on this experience and their academic studies. This work may take the form of stories, a case study or a handbook of best practices related to reporting on health issues in a developing country.
Fellowship Provisions
Fellows receive a stipend of $60,000 paid over a 10-month period (September to June). In addition, the Nieman Foundation provides housing, child-care, and health insurance allowances, based on the number and ages of family members taking part in the program. Costs for attending classes at Harvard are also covered for fellows and affiliates.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be full-time journalists (including freelancers) with at least five years’ experience. Journalists can work for news or editorial departments of newspapers, wire services, radio, television, web sites, online publications or magazines of general public interest. Photojournalists, editorial cartoonists, columnists and broadcast producers are also eligible.
- Any journalism-related work completed as a university student does not count toward experience. People who work in public relations or at organizations whose primary business is not the media are not eligible.
- If appropriate, the applicant’s employer should approve a leave of absence for the academic year (10 months).
- Within the past two years, an applicant should not have participated in a fellowship or taken a leave of absence from work that lasted four months or longer.
- There is no nomination process. Candidates nominate themselves by submitting an application and supplementary materials. There is no age limit. There are no academic prerequisites, and a college degree is not required.
Terms and Conditions
After the candidates have been chosen, but prior to their confirmation as Nieman Fellows by the Harvard Corporation, each must agree in writing to the following four stipulations:
- To return at the end of the sabbatical year to the employer who granted the leave of absence.
- To refrain from professional work during the period of the fellowship.
- To complete all the work in at least two academic courses of their choice: one during the fall semester, the other during the spring semester.
- To remain in residence in the Cambridge area while classes are in session and to participate in Nieman seminars and events.
Selection Process
Applications for Global Health Reporting fellowships are reviewed by a committee of Harvard faculty and news professionals, chaired by the Nieman curator. Finalists are invited to Cambridge in late April for interviews as the final step in selection.
Last date for submitting the applications is January 31, 2012.
For more information, visit this link.
