Overview
This award-winning European Cross-border Grant programme (running since 2009) supports cross-border teams of professional journalists and/or news outlets who have strong ideas for cross-border investigations and for research on European topics.
The proposed projects must have substantive news value and depth, while at the same time being original and innovative. Projects can include cross-border research, networking between colleagues, and established and innovative investigative methods. The stories must be relevant to European audiences.
Journalismfund Europe supports costs related to journalistic research for types of media formats, which could not be covered without the grant support. This can include travel, translation, access to pay-databases and/or time to pursue the research. We do not support fixed costs such as office costs and other investments such as cameras or computers or production costs.
Alongside the applications for funding, teams can also apply to receive support from a project advisor and work with an expert to enrich their investigation.
A New Approach: Expert-Reviewed Journalism
We introduce a new component to our grant programme: expert-reviewed journalism. For journalists who’d like to take a more scientific and methodical approach to their investigations and thus strengthen their investigations, the European Cross-border Grants programme now offers them the possibility to work with subject-matter experts.
This new support comes in the form of Project Advisors and Experts, who will work closely with grantees throughout their project. Project Advisors will help teams to connect with relevant experts and act as a mediator between journalists and experts. Project advisors will be chosen among a pool of advisors compiled by our project partner SSE Riga. Experts will be selected by the journalistic team, with support from the Project Advisor, based on their expertise in the topic of the investigation. Please see the grant rules for more detail.
Why This Matters?
This new setup ensures that cross-border teams receive targeted, professional support, helping them:
- Access the right expertise
- Improve investigative depth and accuracy
- Increase the overall quality and impact of their journalism
In short, the programme now goes beyond funding alone — offering hands-on guidance and expert knowledge to support ambitious cross-border investigations.
Thematic focus
All themes are acceptable for this grant. The investigation proposal must clearly present a collaborative cross-border journalism investigation with a subject that focuses on at least two countries.
Running since 2019, this grant programme has received more than 700 cross-border investigations. You can find them here (please use the filter on the left to check if investigations on certain themes had already received funding).
Building a team and a successful collaboration
We have some tips on how to find investigative journalists in other countries to team up with, as well as some important advice from from former grantees and other experts on making investigative collaboration successful. Find them here.
Grant rules
Please read in full on our application portal in full before starting your: application:
- Expert-reviewed European Cross-border Grants grant rules and eligibility criteria
- Journalismfund Europe's General Grant Rules
More information
To see all the details about the eligibility and assessment criteria, project advisors and experts, timing, jury and grant conditions, visit our application portal.
Please be advised that if any details (such as full addresses) or documents (IDs, CVs, articles of incorporation) are missing when your application is submitted, it will be considered INELIGIBLE.
Need help?
We are interested to hear your ideas and to assist you with any questions. Please do not hesitate to contact us via:
- Schedule a pre-application video call with a project coordinator
- Telephone: +32 2 705 59 19
- Mail: expjou@journalismfund.eu
