RJI Professional Innovation Fellowships (Individual Fellowship / Emerging Technology Fellowship)

What you get

You get a stipend (a lump sum to fund your work) of about EUR 69,000 (USD 75,000) for an Individual Fellowship, or about EUR 92,000 (USD 100,000) for an Emerging Technology Fellowship. You use it to build a practical tool or resource for journalists. The money covers your project costs and is paid in three instalments as you hit project milestones. The fellowship runs for 8 months, starting on 28 June 2027. You work remotely, with a few visits to the Reynolds Journalism Institute in Columbia, Missouri. RJI covers that travel. You also get support to launch your tool and plan its long-term funding. The fellowship is run by the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.

The two fellowships differ in focus. The Individual Fellowship is for anyone with a full-time job or freelance business who wants to pursue an innovative journalism project on the side. The Emerging Technology Fellowship is for building something that uses new technology to solve a journalism problem in a way that would not be possible without that technology.

Who can apply

• Background: Journalists, consultants, researchers or anyone else can apply. You do not need a journalism degree.
• Age and experience: No minimum. Any age, whether or not you work in journalism.
• Where you live: Anywhere in the world.
• Your idea: You have a strong idea for a tool, guide, platform or resource that solves a real problem in journalism. This matters most.
• Open result: You are willing to make the final product free, accessible and open-source, so any journalist or newsroom can use it.

How to apply

You apply online through the Submittable platform. The first round closes on 18 December 2026. After that comes a more detailed second-round application, then interviews for finalists before the fellows are chosen.

How realistic are your chances?

The fellowship is open worldwide with no formal requirements, so the field is wide and the money per fellow is large. That makes it competitive. What decides it is the strength and originality of your idea, not your CV. If you arrive with a clear, well-scoped project that plainly solves a journalism problem (and for the technology track, one only possible with new tools), you have a genuine shot.