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9-Month Fellowship: How to Apply

The application to the Knight Science Journalism 9-month Fellowship includes several pieces, listed below. Before applying please read "A few things everyone should be aware of when they apply for our 9-month Fellowship" at the bottom of this page.

Application requirements:

A) Online Application form. Application deadline: March 1, 2013. We are no longer accepting applications.

Please email your subsequent materials, listed below, to ksj.admissions@mit.edu with "9-Month Application" in the Subject field.

B) Professional autobiography:Tell us about your professional life. Not to exceed 750 words.

C) Résumé or Curriculum Vitae: Be sure to include your education and work history.

D) Fellowship year proposal: Tell us what you plan to do during a fellowship year and how that would fit in with your professional goals. Not to exceed 750 words.

E) Freelancers: (Non-freelancers, skip this item). Provide a list of all your jobs in the last 12 months—what you did, for whom and, if your client is not widely known provide some idea of who or what it is. A few words for each job is sufficient.

F) Samples of professional work: Please provide six samples. If your work is in a format that cannot be submitted electronically, please contact us for submission details.

Guidelines for samples:

  • Select six works that best show your interests and abilities. Please, no more than six.

  • All six samples should have been published or broadcast within the last 24 months.

  • If work is available online, we prefer you provide a PDF (for print), an .mp3 (for audio) or an .mp4 (for video) in addition to the URL for each work sample.

  • If original work is not in English, English translations are required for at least three of the works.

  • Editors/Producers/Directors should indicate their involvement in the piece.

  • For series, send only the first and last pieces, with a brief outline of other items in the series.

  • For books, submit one chapter. (PDF files preferred.)

  • For audio/visual, submit a sample (or samples) with a total running time of up to 40 minutes. If samples are submitted on a CD or DVD, please include a written manuscript or synopsis indicating where each item (program, story or segment) begins. Please contact us first before sending CDs or DVDs. For online submissions, .mp3 or .mp4 files are preferred. Please contact us for details on how to upload your samples.

  • For photography/graphics, submit published works in context or as unmounted printouts. (For electronic submissions, JPG or GIF files preferred.)

  • Note, mailed submissions will not be returned.

G) Four Letters of Recommendation:

  • Three letters should be from individuals familiar with your work, commenting on your abilities and your commitment to journalism.

  • Optional: One letter should come from your organization's publisher or your immediate supervisor, supporting your application and granting a 9-month leave of absence if awarded the Fellowship. (Freelancers, and people thinking of leaving their jobs to take a fellowship need only provide the first three letters.)

Letters may be emailed to ksj.admissions@mit.edu, and should come directly from the recommender, not from a third party. Letters must reach us by March 1. It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure that the recommenders submit their letters of recommendation to us by the March 1 deadline.

All application materials must be received by March 1:

Please email materials, with "9-Month Fellowship" in the Subject field, to: ksj.admissions@mit.edu.

We prefer PDF files, but if you are unable to send a PDF we also accept DOC or TXT files.

We have a dropbox for submitting large audio or video files. We prefer .mp3 for audio and .mp4 for video files. However, we do accept most other formats. Please contact ksj.admissions@mit.edu for details and dropbox URL.

If you cannot—or prefer not—to email your application materials, we'll happily accept mailed copies. Make sure they reach us by March 1, 2013. Please contact us first before sending CDs or DVDs.

To send by US Mail use this address:

Knight Science Journalism at MIT
MIT E19-623, 77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139

To send by Fed Ex, UPS or DHL use this address:

Knight Science Journalism at MIT
MIT E19-623, 400 Main St.
Cambridge, MA 02142

617-452-3513
ksj.admissions@mit.edu

Selection process:

Applicants are selected each spring by a panel of leading journalists and MIT faculty. All application materials must be received by March 1. Finalists are chosen in mid-April. U.S. finalists are brought to Cambridge for interviews in late April. International finalists are interviewed by telephone. Winners are announced by early May.

A few things everyone should be aware of when they apply for our 9-month Fellowship

If you are selected as a Fellow:

  • You will need to pay for you and your family’s travel to and from Boston.

  • Your housing search should begin early! We’ll share information from previous Knight Fellows and apartment listings, but securing an apartment is your responsibility.

  • Before signing a lease or sending any money for an apartment either see it in person or have someone you know and trust, like a friend or relative in the area, check it out for you.

  • Housing in the Cambridge area is expensive. To finalize a rental agreement, it is often required that a person pay their first and last month’s rent, plus a security deposit of one month’s rent. MIT’s International Scholars website has information everyone should read about housing, utilities, and food prices in Cambridge.

  • Knight Fellows receive their stipend in 10 installments. If you are selected as a Fellow, your first stipend payment will be on August 31. Unfortunately, salary advances and loans are not possible.

  • FOR INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS: If you are selected as a FINALIST, please make sure that you and your family’s passports are current. The visa process must begin immediately after the Fellows are selected, and that process cannot start without a valid passport.