The Open Notebook Early-Career Fellowship Program is now accepting applications. The Open Notebook provides early-career scientific journalists with a compensated, part-time fellowship program each year. As part of this fellowship, fellows collaborate with a mentor to plan, report, and write pieces that will be published on The Open Notebook.

They also join the TON editorial staff. Within the context of a brilliant, encouraging, and multicultural community of former and current fellows and mentors, this ten-month program gives fellows the chance to explore their professional interests and passions and to hone their talents. The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, which has generously sponsored their initiative since 2012, made this fellowship possible.

Quick Details:

• Offered by: The Open Notebook
• Format: Remote
• Deadline: October 31, 2023
• Duration: 10 months (part time)
• Gender: Any
• Type: Fellowship
• Eligible Nations: International

The Fellowship Experience:

A mixture of “story behind the story” interviews and reported features, each fellow will propose, report, and write four stories for publication at The Open Notebook during this fellowship. They will have weekly phone or video conferences with a mentor who is a seasoned scientific journalist who will assist them in developing story ideas, give direction on reporting and writing, edit fellows’ article drafts, and provide general advice and guidance on the craft and career development. Usually, serious editing occurs numerous times for fellows’ articles. Fellows are also in charge of gathering demographic information about their sources as part of their continuous source-diversity tracking project and annotation of their articles for fact-checking as each piece approaches completion.

Fellows will be expected to take part in cohort-based activities in the fellowship Slack community during the fellowship. After the fellowship has ended, membership in this community will remain active. Please take note that although being part-time, this fellowship involves a sizable weekly time commitment, making balancing it with a full-time work difficult. Full-time employees who are prospective fellows are welcome to apply, but they should carefully evaluate whether they will have the time to commit to finishing papers as stipulated in the fellowship description. This entails scheduling time for 1) speaking with sources over the phone or on camera, 2) attending mentor meetings once a week, 3) going through many rounds of editing and rewriting for the majority of articles, and 4) taking part in discussions in the fellowship Slack group.

Benefits:

• There is a $6,000 stipend available.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Accessible to scientific journalists in their early careers with less than three years of regular, professional writing experience.
• Student projects and internships don’t count toward this criterion.
• There may be exceptions to this rule if the candidate has more than three years of professional science writing experience, but some or all of that experience was conducted in a language other than English.
• This fellowship requires training and/or expertise in writing for the general audience.
• They accept applications from abroad. Application materials, however, such as writing samples and letters of recommendation, must be submitted in English. Materials that have been translated from another language into English are permitted.

Selection Criteria:

The following applications will receive preference:

• A clear desire to pursue a career largely as a scientific writer. (Note: As contrast to other kinds of scientific communication, this fellowship is designed for individuals whose primary purpose is to do journalism.)
• It is not necessary to have substantial knowledge or experience to write about science for the general audience.
• A working knowledge of the field of science journalism, the difficulties that scientists frequently encounter, and your goals for professional development.
• Knowledge of The Open Notebook and the subjects they usually discuss.
• An aptitude for coming up with quality tale concepts appropriate for The Open Notebook.
• Excellent writing skills.
  • They do take into account the fact that English may not be your first language and do not anticipate faultless writing. However, a reasonably good level of English ability is required for a fruitful experience in this fellowship.

Documents Requirement:

The following items are listed on the application form for this fellowship:

• Answers to inquiries about:
  • What you want to gain from this fellowship as well as your motivations
  • Your past instruction and/or expertise in penning popular scientific articles
  • Any unique abilities, passions, or viewpoints you may contribute to this fellowship
  • Your overall goals for the fellowship term (for instance, would you also be writing a dissertation at the same time? Freelancing? looking for a job someplace full-time? Performing another task?)
• Two brief feature or multimedia story suggestions that you believe would be appropriate for publishing at The Open Notebook. These can be roundtable talks, reported pieces on specific aspects of the craft of scientific writing, behind-the-scenes writer interviews, or some other imaginative, feature-length project with a focus on the craft of science writing. (These aren’t actual pitches at full size.)
• A CV or resume
• One reference letter. This might be a recommendation from a teacher, editor, mentor, boss, or another coworker—whoever you believe can speak most well to your abilities and traits in relation to scientific journalism and this fellowship opportunity.
• Two examples of writing or multimedia content that is intended for the general audience (not academic or scholarly writing). You can just include the URLs for the content in a PDF to upload in this area if you are sharing audio or video pieces. (English-only samples only. Materials in other languages are permitted.)
• Additional details about you are optional. Any and all writers are encouraged to apply, in their opinion. They welcome you to contact them if you belong to a minority or community that has traditionally been disadvantaged or underrepresented in American media. This is totally voluntary, and they’ll keep any information you share private.

How to Apply?

To apply, click the apply now button below.

Apply Now

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For more details, kindly refer to The Open Notebook’s website.