- Newsrooms and freelancers are eligible for funding and support.
- Deadline for applications: March 10, 2025
- Sign up to the聽聽to keep in the loop
滨笔滨鈥檚听 (IJ4EU) programme opened two new calls for proposals on January 13, 2025, inviting newsrooms and individual journalists to apply for funding to collaborate on transnational investigations.
滨闯4贰鲍鈥檚听聽offers grants of up to 鈧�50,000 to allow journalistic teams of any type 鈥� including newsrooms and specialist investigative outlets 鈥� to team up across frontiers on ambitious projects.
Meanwhile, 滨闯4贰鲍鈥檚听聽offers grants of up to 鈧�20,000 to cross-border investigative teams made up predominantly of freelance journalists.
The deadline for applications to both schemes is eight weeks after the launch of the call, on聽March 10 at 23:59 CET.
This is the third and final call of the聽, which spans two years ending in November 2025.
For more information, see our聽听补苍诲听.
During the latest call, IJ4EU will distribute 鈧�650,000 across the two schemes to support cross-border investigative journalism as a public good.
Independent juries will allocate around 鈧�500,000 via the Investigation Support Scheme and 鈧�150,000 through the Freelancer Support Scheme.
搁别补诲听聽and why we鈥檙e dedicated to supporting watchdog journalism.
To date, IJ4EU has disbursed almost 鈧�5 million in grants to cross-border projects, allowing hundreds of journalists to conduct ambitious investigations on topics resonating with tens of millions of people across Europe and beyond.
See summaries of previously funded investigations in our聽.
Who can apply?
The geographical eligibility criteria are the same for both schemes.
Applications must be submitted by teams with journalists based in聽at least two European countries聽that have signed up to the full cross-sectoral strand of the European Union鈥檚聽, which provides core funding for IJ4EU.
Eligible countries include聽all 27 EU member states聽and the following non-EU countries:聽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. Investigations on聽all subjects聽will be considered.
The Freelancer Support Scheme is designed for teams whose members operate predominantly outside of newsroom structures. In addition to money, it offers an extra cushion of tailored assistance through mentoring and training.
The Investigation Support Scheme is open to journalistic teams of any configuration that mainly need funding to carry out their investigations.
Both schemes come with practical and editorial assistance, if required, plus legal support and the chance to participate in specialist conferences.
Teams working in聽all media types聽鈥� including print, broadcast, online media, documentary filmmaking and multi-platform storytelling 鈥� will be considered. Projects must aim to be published by聽media outlets in at least two countries.
IJ4EU grants may be used to cover聽nearly any type of cost聽necessary for the production of journalistic content. This includes salary and human resource costs for both employed journalists and freelance journalists, research costs, travel costs, translation costs and administrative costs.
Grants under both schemes are awarded by聽聽made up of distinguished senior editors, investigative journalists and journalism experts.
Full details about both funding schemes and how to apply, as well as information about past funded projects, can be found on the聽. Read our聽.
Still have questions?
Join an聽聽at 14:00 CET to learn all about the programme.
About IJ4EU
As threats to media pluralism multiply, the IJ4EU fund is committed to supporting investigative reporting as a public good in the European Union and on the bloc鈥檚 doorstep.
IJ4EU is managed by a consortium of four non-governmental organisations: the聽International Press Institute聽(IPI), the聽聽(EJC), the聽聽(ECPMF) and聽听(础谤别苍补).
- IPI leads the consortium and manages the聽.
- EJC manages the聽.
- ECPMF runs a聽聽and IJ4EU鈥檚 annual聽. ECPMF also runs a legal contingency fund for grantees.
- Arena provides collaboration support, including access to a聽聽and participation in the annual聽聽investigative journalism conference.
During the latest calls for proposals, Arena will also run a public聽Cross-Border Masterclass聽aimed at helping journalists craft work plans for investigations and write stronger grant applications. Arena will also provide聽鈥渕atchmaking assistance鈥�聽for journalists seeking collaboration partners in other countries.
The next Cross-Border Masterclass will be on February 11 from 13:00 to 15:30 CET. Register for the free event.
Independence sacred
The IJ4EU programme is co-funded by the European Commission鈥檚聽. It receives additional funding from philanthropic foundations including聽聽and the聽.
The programme maintains聽complete independence from donors聽in the selection of projects and strictly guarantees the editorial independence of all grantees.聽聽select projects for funding.
Next steps?
- Sign up for the聽.
- Read our聽.
- 聽for an聽聽on Wednesday, January 22 at 14:00 CET.
- to attend a free Cross-Border Masterclass on Tuesday, February 11 from 13:00 to 15:30 CET.
- 聽via our secure portal.
Questions?
We encourage interested applicants to visit the聽聽and our聽聽on applying. If you still have questions, feel free to get in touch with us.
Contacts
General questions聽or questions related to the聽: Milica Miletic, IJ4EU project coordinator, at IPI (grants[at]ipi.media).
Questions related to the聽: Zlatina Siderova, EJC programme lead (siderova[at]ejc.net).
Questions related to聽Cross-Border Masterclasses听补苍诲听鈥渕atchmaking assistance鈥�: Trine Smistrup, Arena deputy director ([email protected])
IJ4EU (Investigative Journalism for Europe) is a fund for cross-border investigative journalism in the EU. We provide grants to teams of journalists or news organisations in Europe investigating topics of public interest.