Funding Line for Science and Data Journalism - Launch Grants

Why we fund Who we fund How we fund FAQ How we choose Selection Process Application guidelines Contact

Who we fund

A media organization or its project is eligible to receive funding if all of the following requirements are met:

The organization’s registered headquarters are in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
Your organization does not have more than 30 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs).
The organization must serve the common good. This means that the revenues produced by its work are predominantly generated with the intention of strengthening journalism in its social mission of promoting public education and strengthening democracy.
Your work is based on recognized journalistic/editorial standards, which you document publicly (or plan to do so). You are committed to the principles of the press code in your country. If applicable, you also have established guidelines for media cooperations with scientific institutes.
Your proposed project is a new offering, format, distribution channel or revenue source in the field of science or data journalism that your organization has not yet tested on the market.
You are able to demonstrate the science or data journalism qualifications of the designated member of the project leadership team in addition to previous collaboration (e.g. contractual or freelance basis).

The Media Forward Fund currently cannot award grants to:

Schools, universities or public research institutes
Publicly funded media outlets
Interest groups
Sole proprietorship or individuals who are not part of an organization
Service and technology providers
Platforms that primarily curate third-party journalistic content
PR or news agencies
Production companies
Organizations or projects that are still in the concept or startup phase

How we fund

With our project financing, we support media organizations with the market launch of an untested, and thus new, offering, format, distribution channel or revenue source in order to validate or refine their respective business model. These projects close a gap in science or data journalism reporting and ideally rely on approaches that differ from existing methods commonly used in the DACH region and/or in their own market. A particular focus here is on the participatory or interactive involvement or reaching of target groups that have thus far been underserved by the news media.

The project to be launched must be at a sufficiently advanced stage at the time of application to ensure and the establishment of an initial product/market fit during the funding phase – an important step toward validating or refining the business model. This means that the launched project must generate initial revenues.

In the funding line for science and data journalism, we fund regional/local and national/supra-regional media organizations:

Project funding

for small, non-profit media organizations

For small, non-profit media organizations serving the common good, the Fund generally awards project funding of up to 75,000 euros for one year.

Project financing

for small, for-profit media organizations

For small, for-profit media organizations oriented toward the common good, the Fund typically provides up to 75,000 euros for one year. *

* In the case of for-profit organizations, gross figures are considered.

Small media organizations have up to 30 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) in the entire organization.

In addition to our financial assistance, we also provide our funding partners additional forms of support, such as capacity building, individual coaching and specialized workshops. Our cooperation partner, the German Wissenschaftspressekonferenz (WPK), provides support for science journalism. Actual needs will be identified jointly through regular exchange.

The Media Forward Fund is unable to provide funding for:

Conferences and networking events
Studies, accompanying research or individual research projects
Scholarships
(Piloting of) technical solutions or services for media professionals or media companies (infrastructure)
Supplementary funding for an ongoing project

Overview of Launch Grants for Science and Data Journalism

	Non-Profit		For-Profit*
Small organization	Project funding	€75,000	Project financing
Max. funding duration	12 months
Co-financing	/
Funding rounds	One-time

* In the case of for-profit organizations, gross figures are considered.

Overview eligible costs

Personnel costs Wages that are neither paid out directly nor regularly, such as special payments, benefits in kind, bonuses, and other services as well as severance payments, are not eligible for funding.	Employees (full and part-time)
Office and administrative costs	/
Travel and accommodation costs Travel expenses are based on the Federal Travel Expenses Act and the overview of accommodation allowances 2023/2024 abroad of the Federal Ministry of Finance	Max. 10% of the requested funding amount Travel by public transport and airplane Car rental Accommodation costs
Costs for services Fees for freelancers, consulting, contractual work	Services in connection with conception, analyses and evaluation Legal consulting pertaining to the project Services related to the organization and holding of events or conferences (e.g. interpreter services, moderation, fees / expenses for experts, speakers, facilitators, entrance staff, technicians) Translations
Costs related to own events or meetings (with the exception of service providers, see above)	Catering Rent for event/convention space
Training and further education	Fees for training courses Entry fees for events
Costs for the purchase of technical equipment and machinery, particularly capitalizable investments in tangible fixed assets	/

Timeline

Selection process	Provisional timeframe (changes possible)
Info event (online)	March 5, 2025: 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Brief introduction	March 10 to March 23, 2025
Assessment of eligibility and decision on invitation to initial interview
Initial interview	Ongoing until April 2, 2025
Assessment of eligibility and decision on admission for application drafting
Application drafting (within max. 3 weeks)	Ongoing until May 11, 2025
Funding decisions announced	Week starting on July 14, 2025

Frequently asked questions

You can find questions and answers on our FAQ page about this funding line

Open FAQs

How we choose

The selection process focuses on three areas: your journalistic work, your organization and the project to be launched. The following five overarching criteria are key to the assessment:

Transformation

We support media organizations and projects that serve the common good and can both sustainably strengthen media’s role in society and create transformative benefits for science and data journalism. In doing so, they rely on approaches that differ from existing methods in the DACH region and/or in their own market.
We believe that the sustainability of journalism is also dependent on more efficient newsroom workflows, interaction with users, the integration of new approaches and the courage to adopt new business models.

This is why one of the criteria we examine is the potential of the grant to have a transformative effect internally on the relevant organization through the successful market launch of a new offering, format, distribution channel or revenue source, and externally by trying out new approaches. In this context, we are interested in whether the proposed project has the potential to remain on the market beyond the funding phase and whether the ratio of costs to expected impact in the funding application is plausible and whether the project is part of a long-term strategy.

User focus

We support science and data journalism projects that inform, educate and critically report on the impact of scientific activities for (local) communities or promote trust in a networked society through convincing analyses and data visualization, thus enabling participation in (political) decision making, and which advocate for pluralistic societies and liberal democracies.
Media that aim to meet the information needs of the general public or specific audiences must be trustworthy.

This is why we take a close look at the degree to which an organization focuses on its users and whether it has assessed the needs of its target audience.

Diversity

We are particularly interested in funding projects that involve and/or report for underserved communities to ensure that journalism better serves all groups of society in the future – especially those communities that have thus far been underserved.

This is why we look at whether structural gaps in science or data journalism are addressed. We assess the participatory and inclusive nature of the reporting, especially for underserved communities, and the degree to which these target groups are represented on the staffs of the organizations applying.

Independence

We fund media organizations and projects to ensure that they are able to report critically and independently even in times of crises – and also independently of our funding. We never interfere in the reporting of the media organizations and projects we fund. Freedom of the press, as one of the cornerstones of liberal democracy, is crucial for our work.

This is why we examine the (verifiably intended) structural and personnel division between the editorial and business management, content independence in the context of media cooperations with scientific institutions and advertising contracts, as well as a strategically oriented approach at both the organizational and economic level.

Quality

We finance science and data journalism projects by media outlets whose work conforms to the applicable journalistic and editorial standards of their respective sector. At the heart of quality journalism are principles such as truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, transparency and independence.

This is why we look at the organization’s commitment to the principles of the press codex in its country of registration, the existence of established editorial standards and institutionalized mechanisms to monitor compliance with those standards, the quality of the publications submitted and the science or data journalism expertise of the designated project lead.

Additional note:

Funding eligibility is also subject to the following additional criteria:

Average share of daily content published by the overall organization made up by proprietary content (excluding copy from news agencies and mainly AI-generated content) must be over 70 percent.

Selection process

1. Brief introduction

By completing the online form, you confirm that you meet our basic eligibility criteria and you provide a brief overview of your organization and how you intend to use the funding.

Please note that, for technical reasons, the link to the brief introduction can only be used once and your answers to the questions cannot be cached. No automated proof of receipt will be sent.

Brief introduction preview

2. Initial interview

Should you be eligible for funding and should your intention fit with our funding objectives, we would like to get to know you better by way of a telephone/video call of approx. 30 minutes. No additional preparation is required for the interview.

Preview of key questions for the initial interview

3. Funding application

Once you have successfully demonstrated in the initial interview that you meet our five overarching selection criteria, you will be invited to draft your funding application. You will have three weeks to complete your application.

Application form preview

The following documents must be attached along with your application:

Launch plan based on milestones
Financing overview and planning
CV of the designated science or data journalism project lead
Operating budget plan for the current year
Current or preliminary annual financial statement from the last fiscal year
Extract from the association or commercial register (incl. shareholder list)
Completed and signed form for the verification of non-profit status (only for non-profit organizations based in Austria and Switzerland)
Prototype draft (optional)
Latest annual report relevant to the project (optional)
Editorial code of conduct (optional)
Strategy or business plan (optional)
Evaluation report(s) (optional)

Launch plan preview

Financing overview & planning preview

After a comprehensive review of your application, we will continue the selection process with the most promising candidates by deepening the due diligence process for your organization.

Based on the submitted application documents, a jury of several experts from the fields of science and data journalism will make the final decision on the awarding of funding.

Application guidelines

In our application guidelines, you will find a checklist of eligibility requirements as well as the most important information pertaining to the brief introduction, the application, the due diligence check and the pitch to the jury.

Application guidelines

Contact and feedback

We are a relatively new organization and are eager to learn from our applicants and grantees. Should you have any feedback pertaining to our website, our application and selection process or the collaboration process, you are welcome to leave an anonymous message here or write to us at funding@mediaforwardfund.org.