For women journalists, the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship for 2025 is now accepting applications.
The Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship offers women and nonbinary journalists who cover social justice and human rights with chances for academic and professional advancement. The Fellowship was established in honor of Elizabeth Neuffer, a Boston Globe journalist and 1998 recipient of the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, who passed away on May 9, 2003, while covering the war in Iraq. The IWMF launched this initiative in cooperation with Neuffer’s friends and family in order to carry on her legacy and further her work in the social justice and human rights movements.
The Neuffer Fellowship is designed for women and nonbinary journalists with at least three years of professional experience in journalism working in print, broadcast, or digital media, either as a staff journalist or as a freelancer. All nationalities are welcome to apply but non-native English speakers must have excellent written and verbal English skills in order to fully participate in and benefit from the program. The Fellow will complete research and coursework at MIT’s Center for International Studies and journalism internships at The Boston Globe and The New York Times. The flexible structure of the program provides the fellow with opportunities to pursue academic research and hone their reporting skills. Past fellows have taken advantage of opportunities to publish work under their byline through various media outlets.
Benefits:
- Neuffer Fellows receive a fixed monthly stipend to cover their living costs.
- The IWMF also arranges and covers the cost of housing in Cambridge and New York City for the fellow.
- The IWMF purchases round-trip economy airfare from the fellow’s place of residence to the United States, as well as transportation between the Fellowship cities.
- The fellow receives health insurance during the program.
- The Fellowship does not include a salary. For fellows residing outside of the United States, the Fellowship also covers the costs of applying for and obtaining a U.S. visa.
- The fellow is fully responsible for any additional incidental expenses and other costs.
Eligibility:
- The Neuffer Fellowship is open to women, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming journalists whose work focuses on human rights and social justice issues.
- All applicants for the Neuffer Fellowship must be working journalists with at least three years of full-time, professional journalism experience. Internships and journalism-related work completed as a university student do not count as professional experience. Applicants may be staff or freelance journalists.
- Journalists from any country around the world are eligible to apply. However, applicants must speak, read and write English fluently in order to fully participate in and benefit from the Fellowship.
