Request for Applications: Investigation Support Scheme 2025

Topics

• Projects on all topics will be considered. This includes, but is not limited to, corruption, illicit enrichment and financial crime; security; democracy; human rights; the environment and climate change; migration and public health.

Funding Information

• Applicants to the Investigation Support Scheme can request grants of between €5,000 and €50,000.
• To ensure that IJ4EU can fund as many high-quality projects as possible and recognizing that cross-border projects don’t necessarily have to involve many countries to have an impact they encourage applicants to think in terms of the following informal tier system, which is aimed at encouraging a diversity of budget sizes:
  • Tier 1: EUR 5,000 to 15,000 – For smaller, highly focused cross-border investigations
  • Tier 2: EUR 15,000 to 35,000 – For cross-border investigations requiring substantial resources
  • Tier 3: EUR 35,000 to 50,000 – For cross-border projects of exceptional scale and/or complexity

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible under the Investigation Support Scheme, applications must be sent by teams of journalists and/or news organisations that meet the following criteria:
  • Teams must have members based in at least two European countries that have signed up to the full cross-sectoral strand of the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme, which provides core funding for IJ4EU.
  • Eligible countries include all 27 EU member states and the following non-EU countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Ukraine.
  • Eligibility is based on residency (where you live and work) and not nationality (citizenship).
  • Team members based in countries anywhere else in the world are welcome to participate, but they must be part of teams that fulfil the core geographical criteria described above. In other words, they must be part of teams with members based in at least two participating Creative Europe countries in Europe.
  • Teams can comprise any combination of members including journalists working as part of newsroom structures as well as freelancers.
  • The proposed project must aim to reveal new information. Applications must justify the relevance of the investigation for the public in the target countries or for the broader European public sphere. Investigative teams already in existence or formed for an IJ4EU project are equally welcome to apply.

Evaluation Criteria

• The jury’s decision will take account of, but not necessarily confine itself to, the following criteria:
  • Cross-border relevance
  • Relevance of topic to European and local public
  • Newsworthiness and added value
  • Strength of research and publication plan
  • Expected impact and/or reach of the project
  • Feasibility of project within project timeline and budget
  • Applicants’ experience and journalistic credentials
  • Adequate risk assessment
  • The urgency of financial need or other assistance

Application Requirements

• Applicants must complete the following sections:
  • Project description. A brief explanation of what they plan to investigate. It is understood that this outline may include tentative or so far unproven conclusions, but it must give a clear indication of the story the team hopes to tell and how it plans to substantiate it.
  • What new information will the proposed investigation reveal?
  • Project relevance. An indication of why this story (if proved and publishable) would be a contribution to the public interest in the countries involved and/or in the EU more broadly.
  • Research and publication plan. A description of the proposed research and activity timeline for the investigation and outline of the broadcast, publication or dissemination plan for the material.
  • Risk assessment. A description of the main risks associated with the completion of the project and how the team plans to mitigate against these risks.
  • Expected legal needs. A summary of the level and type of legal support that applicants foresee. Applicants should include a line in their budgets for routine legal screening.
  • Any anticipated tools, software, databases etc required to conduct the investigation. Applicants are expected to include a line in their budgets for any such resources.
  • Uploaded letters of intent from publishers or broadcasters.
  • Total amount requested from IJ4EU (in EUR).
  • Uploaded project budget. Applicants are encouraged to use this model budget.
  • Budget justification. Any additional information needed to justify the costs included in the budget.

For more information, visit IJ4EU.