This page provides technical information about the Financial Support for Third Parties (FSTP) mechanism for the FRONTIERS grants. The information provided on this page should be read, read, assessed, and referred to in parallel to the FRONTIERS Residency Program Guide.

In case of any discrepancy between the FRONTIERS Residency Program Guide and the information on this page about any guidelines and/or instructions that have to do with any aspect of the FSTP implementation, the instructions listed in FRONTIERS Residency Program Guide will prevail.

Costs eligibility

The following costs are considered eligible for the purpose of requesting the budget for the FRONTIERS FSTP grant:

  • A monthly living allowance (for 3-5 months)
  • Reasonable travel and accommodation costs
  • Other reasonable expenses directly associated with the project
  • Any other reasonable expense that the FRONTIERS selection committee approved during the evaluation and selection processes

Any other cost will not be covered by the FRONTIERS FSTP grant.

Grant structure

The approved grant will be awarded based on the eligible requested budget. The awarded grant will be provided in the form of a global monthly payment (including all costs) for a duration of 3-5 months. The table below provides information about the maximum global monthly payment, per career stage:

Journalist career stageExperienceUp to Monthly payment
Early-career journalistLess than 5 yearsEUR 4,000
Mid-career journalist6 to 9 yearsEUR 5,000
Experienced journalist10+ yearsEUR 6,000

Additional mobility allowance

In cases where a journalist project includes multiple research institutions, an additional mobility allowance will be provided on top of the abovementioned grant amount. The mobility allowance should be used for travel purposes only, and the allowance will be determined based on the nature of the mobility, as follows:

  • International mobility (within Europe) – Additional EUR 500 for each international travel.
  • Domestic travel – Additional EUR 150 for each domestic travel.

The grants (including the additional mobility allowances) are final and will not be increased under any circumstances.

Example #1

Mid-career journalist applied with the following breakdown:

  • Project duration: 4 months (estimated cost per month: EUR 3,500)
  • Travel and accommodation: EUR 1,500 per month

Total requested grant: 4 * (3,500+1,500) = EUR 20,000

Total awarded grant: EUR 20,000 (the max allowed is EUR 20,000)

Example #2

Experienced journalist applied with the following breakdown:

  • Project duration: 3 months (estimated cost per month: EUR 5,000)
  • Travel and accommodation: EUR 2,000 per month

Total requested grant: 3 * (5,000+2,000) = EUR 21,000

Total awarded grant: EUR 18,000 (the max allowed is EUR 18,000)

Example #3

Early-career journalist applied with the following breakdown:

  • Project duration: 5 months (estimated cost per month: EUR 1,500)
  • Travel and accommodation: EUR 500 per month
  • International travel (within Europe) due to project that covers multiple research institution: 2 trips (EUR 500 each)

Total requested grant: 5 * (1,500+500) + 2 * 500 = EUR 11,000

Total awarded grant: EUR 11,000 (the max allowed is EUR 20,000)

Modus Operandi

The FSTP grant awarding process will include the following steps:

  1. Prerequisite: a budget request and justification must be included in the Journalist application.
  2. The FRONTIERS Coordination and Support Office (CSO) will assess the budget request to ensure that it meets the FRONTIERS selection and eligibility criteria.
    • Failing to meet these criteria will result in the rejection of the journalist’s application.
  3. It is possible that the FRONTIERS CSO will decide to adjust the awarded amount in the cases listed below:
    • The budget request is considered to be too high or too low for the suggested project
    • Country correction coefficients may be applied (following the corresponding Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) work program at the time of awarding the grant. See Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2024: MSCA Actions; p.112-113).
  4. However, in case the expected adjustment of the grant, between the presented budget request and assessed budget by the CSO is lower than €500, FRONTIERS will grant the higher amount between the two.
  5. Once the FRONTIERS CSO decides on the final grant, the Journalist will sign a dedicated grant agreement with Enspire Science (Template available here).
  6. Following that, the grant will be transferred to the Journalist in 3 instalments:
    • 50% pre-financing within 5 working days after signing the agreement or 20 days prior to the project’s start date (whichever is the latest)
    • 30% by project’s mid-term, following actual progress indicators, including: report by the journalist and/or by the host institution, participation of the journalist in the project’s training and/or other project’s events.
    • 20% final payment, after receiving the final report by the journalist.
  7. The Journalist will have to sign an Acknowledgement of receipt for each instalment (Template available here).
  8. The Journalist will have to report about the project’s progress and/or results to ensure compliance with the FRONTIERS grant agreement, program, and timeline.

In case, for any reason, the Journalist will not execute the project, the FRONTIERS CSO will work to recover the grant from the Journalist, according to the FRONTIERS grant agreement.

For more detailed information on the FRONTIERS Residency Program, visit: