Journalists from 215 cross-border teams submitted proposals under the latest call for IJ4EU grant applications, marking a new high in geographical diversity.
These prospective teams had members based in 74 countries, slightly surpassing the previous record set in November 2024.
Together, they applied for a combined total of €5.97 million in grant funding.
The latest call, which closed on March 10, was the third and final opportunity for journalists to seek IJ4EU support for investigations during the programme’s 2024/25 funding cycle.
A total of 132 teams applied to IJ4EU’s Investigation Support Scheme, which offers grants of up to €50,000. Meanwhile, 83 applied to the Freelancer Support Scheme, which offers grants of up to €20,000 along with tailored mentoring.
This call attracted the second-highest number of proposals in IJ4EU history, just short of the all-time record of 235 applications set in March 2024.
To be eligible, teams have to satisfy IJ4EU’s core geographical requirements. That means having 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 co-funds the programme.
These “core countries” include all 27 EU member states as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Ukraine.
Every core country except Liechtenstein was represented in the latest round.
Teams that meet the core geographical eligibility criteria can also include members from other countries. In this call, applicants included journalists from 38 additional nations, further expanding IJ4EU’s global reach.
These additional countries were Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, Rwanda, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States and Uruguay.
The breadth of representation in this round underscores IJ4EU’s role in fostering international collaboration on transnational investigations.
Independent juries will convene at the beginning of April to select projects for funding, with all teams receiving notifications shortly thereafter.
Best of luck to all applicants!