The Open Notebook Early-Career Fellowship Program

The Open Notebook is accepting applications for the next round of The Open Notebook's early-career fellowship for early-career science writers, funded by a generous grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The next fellowship period will begin on March 11, 2024 and will end on January 11, 2025.

This ten-month fellowship is remote and part-time. Fellows will report and write four articles for publication at The Open Notebook with the guidance of a mentor who will help shape story ideas, provide reporting and writing guidance, edit final copy, and offer career-development mentoring. Fellows and mentors will also take part in a Slack-based professional discussion group composed of former fellowship participants and TON editors. During the fellowship, fellows will be responsible for participating in cohort-based activities in the fellowship Slack community. Membership in this community will continue after the fellowship ends. Each fellow will receive a stipend of $6,000.

Eligibility
The fellowship is open to early-career science journalists with fewer than three years of regular professional science writing experience. Please note the following details:

• Internships and student work do not count toward this requirement.
• Exceptions to this requirement may be made for cases in which an applicant has more than three years of professional science writing experience but some or all of that experience is not in English.
• Some training and/or experience in writing for the general public is a requirement for this fellowship.
• International applicants are welcome. However, applications, including writing samples and letters of recommendation, must be in English. Materials translated into English from another language are acceptable.

PLEASE NOTE: Although it is part-time, this fellowship requires a significant weekly time commitment, and juggling the fellowship along with a full-time job can be challenging. Prospective fellows who have full-time jobs are welcome to apply, but should consider carefully whether they will be able to devote sufficient time to completing articles as specified in the fellowship description. This includes making time for

1) conducting phone interviews with sources,

2) weekly phone meetings with mentors,

3) multiple rounds of editing and revision for most stories,

4) participating in conversations in the fellowship Slack community.

Selection Criteria
Priority will be given to applicants who demonstrate: 

• A strong intention to work primarily as a professional science journalist. (Note: This fellowship is intended for people whose main goal is to do journalism, as opposed to other forms of science communication.)
• Some training and/or experience writing about science for the general public (it does not have to be extensive)
• Some understanding of the science journalism profession, the challenges science journalists commonly face, and the ways in which you would like to grow as a science journalist
• Familiarity with The Open Notebook and the types of topics we tend to cover
• An ability to generate good story ideas suitable for The Open Notebook
• Strong writing ability (If English is not your first language, we do take this into consideration and do not expect flawless writing. However, for a successful experience in this fellowship you must have a fairly high level of proficiency in English.)

 
Deadline
Applications, including letters of reference, must be received by 11:59 p.m. U.S. Central time on October 31, 2023.

Sign up and APPLY HERE

For more info, visit the Program Page