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Deadline
13 Apr 2026, 23:59 (CEST)
For whom
Freelance journalists
Amount
€20.000
Programme
IJ4EU’s Freelancer Support Scheme 2026 offers grants of up to €20,000 to cross-border investigative teams made up predominantly of freelance journalists.
Join our info webinar on Wednesday, 23 February at 13:00 CET
The IJ4EU’s Freelancer Support Scheme offers grants of up to €20,000 to cross-border investigative teams made up predominantly of freelance journalists.
You can also join an online Cross-Border Investigative Masterclass on March 3 at 13:00-15:30 CET. Run by Arena for Journalism in Europe, the two-and-a-half-hour session is aimed at helping journalists develop investigative work plans and strengthen grant applications.
Eligibility criteria
- Teams must include journalists based in at least two eligible European countries (EU member states and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, and Ukraine).
- Eligibility is based on residency, not nationality.
- Projects must focus on topics of cross-border relevance and aim for publication in at least two countries.
- Open to all media types, including print, broadcast, online media, and documentaries.
Funding and support
- Grants can cover salaries, research, travel, translation, and administrative costs.
- Additional benefits include mentoring, training, legal assistance, and opportunities to participate in specialist conferences.
The deadline for applications is eight weeks after the launch of the call, on April 13 at 23:59 CEST.
Questions?
- Join an info webinar on Wednesday, on February 23 at 13:00 CET.
- Visit the IJ4EU website and the FAQ page before applying.
Arena for Journalism in Europe also provides “matchmaking assistance” for journalists seeking collaboration partners in other countries. Fill in this form to make a confidential request. Your answers to the questions help us to find potential collaborators, depending on the country or topic(s) you are interested in. The more people who sign up, the better the chances of finding matches. (This is a small, experimental database, so we can’t guarantee that you will find a partner.)
The Freelancer Support Scheme is the third and last IJ4EU grant running in parallel with the Investigation Support Scheme. This scheme offers grants of up to €50,000 to investigative teams of any kind, including newsrooms, investigative not-for-profits, and freelancers. The scheme is managed by the International Press Institute (IPI) and will allocate €1.6 million in 2026-2027 to projects.
The IJ4EU programme is supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme. The programme maintains complete independence from donors in the selection of projects and strictly guarantees the editorial independence of all grantees.
Hero image by Sara Elbashir, IJ4EU grantee 2024 - 2025
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