Application form - Travel and Reporting Grants 2026

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The BIRN Travel & Reporting Programme is designed to support journalists from the Visegrad region (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) who wish to carry out reporting from the Balkans.

With the objective of strengthening journalistic collaboration and facilitating the exchange of information between the two regions, the programme offers regional expertise, travel and reporting grants, as well as on-the-ground support in countries where BIRN maintains offices (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro).

Participation in the programme is expected to lead to journalistic work being published in the applicant’s home-country media, with the option for the content to also be republished on BIRN’s Reporting Democracy platform and in media outlets across the Balkan region.

The application deadline is 7 August 2026.

Are you applying as:

MEDIA ORGANISATION

INDIVIDUAL JOURNALIST OR TEAM

GRANT APPLICATION FORM FOR MEDIA ORGANISATIONS

General information

Full Name

Country

Address

Telephone number

Contact person for the project

Profile of the media and its editorial policy

Team members

List all team members

Re-order	Name	Contact email	List main responsibilities/achievements within the organisation	Weight	Operations
	Name	Contact email	List main responsibilities/achievements within the organisation	Item weight

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Previous experience

Information about previous similar projects, including at least one and not more than three representative examples of published work. Work samples may be submitted in local language or in English.

Re-order	Link to the article	Attach the file (if needed)	Weight	Operations
	Link to the article	Attach the file (if needed) One file only. 64 MB limit. Allowed types: txt rtf pdf doc docx odt ppt pptx odp xls xlsx ods. 100 MB limit per form.	Item weight

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GRANT APPLICATION FORM FOR INDIVIDUAL JOURNALISTS AND TEAMS

Personal details (add more tables if needed)

If you are applying as a team, one team member will have to be the contact person for the project and signatory of the contract. Nevertheless, you should list all team members in the application form. For each team member (if applicable), add a new table and enter their information.

Re-order	Name	Country of permanent residence	Address	Telephone	Email	Weight	Operations
	Name	Country of permanent residence	Address	Telephone	Email	Item weight

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Professional details (add more rows if needed)

List main professional achievements so far

List main professional achievements so far
	List main professional achievements so far	Item weight

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List responsibilities on this project

List responsibilities on this project
	List responsibilities on this project	Item weight

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Reference

Provide name, position and contact details (email and telephone number) of at least two references from the media sector

Re-order	Name	Position	Email	Telephone	Weight	Operations
	Name	Position	Email	Telephone	Item weight

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Previous experience

Add links to articles you have written that have been published. Applicants must submit at least one and not more than three representative examples of their published work. Work samples may be submitted in local language or in English.

Re-order	Link to the article	Attach the file (if needed)	Weight	Operations
	Link to the article	Attach the file (if needed) One file only. 64 MB limit. Allowed types: txt rtf pdf doc docx odt ppt pptx odp xls xlsx ods. 100 MB limit per form.	Item weight

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RESEARCH PROJECT

Proposals should include plans to conduct useful research in the Balkan region, either as self-standing research or as a part of a cross-border story. A cross-border aspect of the research is encouraged, but is not obligatory. The result of the grant should be the production of at least one article, while accompanying videos, photos and/or radio/podcasts are also eligible additional outputs.

Title of the project

General information

Explain why you are applying for this programme and what kind of local support you might need for the proposed project.

Lead

BRIEFLY outline your reporting project. What do you plan to show, highlight or reveal?

Research, interviewees, sources

Briefly outline your planned research. Explain why you want to visit a particular country/countries, why it is important for your story, which reporting methods you will use and whom are the people that you want to meet and/or interview.

Relevance

Describe why the planned research and reporting project is worthwhile, interesting and important. Explain what your story will reveal that has not been reported before.

Publication and dissemination plan

Please outline your publication and dissemination plan, including where you intend to publish your story and how you plan to promote and distribute it in order to maximise its reach and impact. You may also briefly explain the potential impact the publication of your article could have.

Competence

What is your particular competence to work on the topic that you have proposed?

Email address to receive a copy of your application

DECLARATION

I hereby declare the accuracy of all statements made in the application form and attachments to it. Further, I confirm that, if selected, I have all the necessary permissions from my employer to participate fully in this programme and that I am able to devote all due attention to it.

I confirm declaration

Yes