Journalists interested in reporting on health issues in the developing world have the chance to apply for a fellowship programme at Harvard University in Boston, Massachussetts, United States. The fellowships are organised by the Nieman Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Heath and are funded by a US$1.19 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The programme accepts 3 journalists every year: one from the United States, one from Europe, and one from any developing country.

The fellows will spend one academic year at Harvard, followed by four months of field work in a developing country. During their Nieman year, the global health fellows will be part of the 2008 Class of Nieman Fellows and will participate in weekly activities at the Nieman Foundation. They will pursue a concentrated course of study at Harvard's School of Public Health and will have access to faculty and courses across the university through the Harvard Initiative for Global Health. The four months of field work is intended to provide an intensive learning and reporting experience in countries with the most pressing problems in global health. At the conclusion of their field work, the fellows will be expected to produce work based on this experience and their academic studies. This work could be stories, a case study or a handbook of best practices related to reporting on health issues in a developing country.

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Qualifications for applicants include:

• All applicants must be full-time staff or freelance journalists for the news or editorial departments of newspapers, wire services, radio, television, online publications or magazines of general public interest. Additionally, photojournalists, editorial cartoonists, columnists and broadcast producers are eligible.
• All applicants must have at least 5 years of professional news-media experience, although most have been working for between 7 and 10 years.
• Applicants must have their employer's consent for a 14-month leave of absence.
• If you have recently participated in a fellowship, full-time course of study or other sabbatical programme lasting four months or more, please wait two years before applying for a Nieman Fellowship.

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Click here to download the application form as a PDF file.

The deadline for applications in January 31 2007.