2024 Berlin Scholarship Program In Germany (Fully Funded)
About
Berlin Scholarship Program is a fully funded training for media professionals to participate in an extensive training program in the field of digital security.
The Reporter Ohne Grenzen (RSF) Germany’s scholarship program has been a lifeline for journalists worldwide facing death threats for their unbiased work in war zones. It equips participants with the skills to assess dangers and emphasizes that “Absolute Security” doesn’t exist.
The program offers technical learning, fosters lasting bonds among participants, and promotes cultural understanding through shared experiences. In essence, it leaves a lasting impact on participants, not just for the four-month duration but for a lifetime.
Program Details:
- holistic security basics for journalists, bloggers, media professionals and citizen journalists at risk
- operational security including risk assessments and security planning
- online identity management for investigative journalists, including technical background and practical use of anonymization tools
- secure online communication concepts, technology and tools, including secure online conferencing for interviews
- password and account security and data protection on social media and other online accounts for media work
- device security for computers and mobile phones of journalists at risk
- website security for media websites under attack
- secure online and offline data storage including encryption for media files
- online information verification and Open Source Intelligence
- digital violence (online gender-based violence, doxing, impersonation, trolling)
Eligibility criteria:
- are exposed to digital threats of any form and
- experienced digital violence such as doxing or impersonation and
- want to educate themselves about digital security in order to improve their personal security and the safety of their sources and
- are interested in passing on the knowledge acquired during the scholarship program to colleagues in their home regions and, ideally, already have some experience in teaching or other areas of knowledge transfer and
- are able and willing to fully participate in the program. We expect the applicants to be available for all activities of the program including the comprehensive training for digital security. Please plan with about 20 to 25 hours per week during the training period.
- In the selection process, positive consideration will be given to applicants who work as investigative journalists on topics such as the climate crisis, corruption, labor rights or migration
Benefits:
The stay is limited to six months and the program covers, the travel costs, take care of all visa-related matters, provide and pay for an apartment in Berlin for the duration of the scholarship, grant a monthly allowance of 1000€/month, pay for the health insurance and for the use of public transportation in Berlin. Every fellow will participate in an extensive training program in the field of digital security with experienced trainers for several months. Furthermore, during their stay in Berlin, scholarship holders will be given insights into the activities of Reporters Without Borders Germany, a globally-active journalist and human rights organization.
Required Documents
Applicants interested in the Berlin Fellowship Programme should fill out the application form and the questionnaire. Then, send the following four documents in four separate PDFs to apply for the program:
- a completed and signed application form
- the completed questionnaire
- your CV and
- an identity document (ID or passport)
How to Apply?
- from your own Proton Email account to the Proton Email account of program: rsf.digitalfreedom@protonmail.com. If you do not have a Proton Mail account yet, you can create a free account here: https://proton.me/mail
- Alternatively, you can send you application by using the Signal Messenger to +49 1636743853. If you don’t use Signal Messenger App yet, you can download it here: signal.org
