Journalist-in-Residence Fellowship

The Journalist in Residence Fellowship (5 months) is intended for journalists with a good command of English who need a period of uninterrupted time to do research and/or complete an extensive piece of work – e.g. a non-fiction book, series of articles, podcast, documentary or multimedia production – that will be published in Dutch by at least one Dutch-language publisher.

Journalists at NIAS benefit from being able to work without interruption, while at the same time being part of the lively academic environment at NIAS with a wide range of disciplines from the humanities and social sciences. Previous Journalist-in-Residence Fellowships have proven that the exchange of ideas with scholars from the humanities, social sciences and other disciplines can enrich a journalist’s work. In this way, the fellowship contributes to the production of in-depth journalistic writing. At the same time, the journalist’s perspective, research methods and modes of communication open up new avenues for the scholarly work of other fellows.

• Journalists can apply – in Dutch – via the Fonds BJP (more information here)
• The Fonds BJP assesses the applications and proposes a suitable candidate to NIAS
• NIAS awards the fellowship in accordance with the Fonds BJP

Read about what NIAS offers and the fellowship’s practicalities.

The Fonds BJP is a private initiative set up in 1990 by a group of well-known journalists. It funds a wide range of journalistic projects: articles, podcasts, documentaries, photography projects and non-fiction books, including biographies. The Fonds BJP receives support from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. It has contributed to the success of journalists such as Judith Koelemeijer, Geert Mak, Jeroen Smit and Annejet van der Zijl, and many projects financed by the Fonds BJP have been awarded journalism prizes.

The Journalist-in-Residence programme was initiated by NIAS Rector Henk Wesseling and Ben Knapen, director of PCM, and aimed to give journalists from the Volkskrant and NRC the opportunity to work on a book in an academic setting and without interruption. The first fellow arrived in 2002. Currently, the Journalist-in-Residence Fellowship is open to a greater variety of candidates working on a wider range of journalistic projects.

An applicant who has previously held a NIAS fellowship may apply for another residency, but only if there are at least 10 years between their application for the previous fellowship and the current application deadline.

• Sanne de Boer (2023/2024) reflects on her time at NIAS (in Dutch), where she worked on her new book about Italian mafia organization ‘Ndrangheta. It will be the follow-up to her acclaimed debut Mafiopoli, which was translated in English and German.
• Kasper van Laarhoven (2023/24), worked at NIAS on his book ‘Het Cornelius Haga Lyceum, orthodoxie in tijden van islamkritiek’. In his report, you can read how Kasper experienced his time at NIAS (in Dutch).
• Lynn Berger (2021/22), journalist for De Correspondent, about writing in a room of one’s own (in English).
• Saar Slegers (2020/21), radio journalist and podcast maker, on her fellowship in an audio interview (in Dutch).
• Marijn Kruk (2019/20), writing for De Groene Amsterdammer, on his corona-ridden fellowship (in English).
• Sarah Venema (2018/19), freelance journalist writing for De Volkskrant and De Groene Amsterdammer, reports about what happens when you enter NIAS (in English).