We request that you acquaint yourself thoroughly with the information presented on this page before submitting your application.

Basic Requirements

Age: 18 years or older.
Experience: Preferably not more than 3 years.
Professional background: Journalism, Sociology, Political Science, Slavic Studies
Language: Fluency in Russian
Idea: A clearly formulated concept for a media project (the application contains required questions in which you must indicate the subject of your media project and explain its relevance to your audience)

Rules for Submitting an Application:

Applications open every year in the spring. Applications can be submitted online by completing the form on this website.  

Framework for Evaluating Applications:

A professional jury evaluates all applications for the Summer School. The jury, which consists of school management, journalists, and media managers, selects the participants of the summer school. 

The jury evaluates applicants based on the potential benefit of the course of study for the candidate, the relevance and practicality of the proposed media projects, and the confidence of the jury in the candidate’s ability to execute the project independently. 

Preference is given to projects focused on a medium-term perspective and planned to culminate in a series of materials or themed cycles.

Even though we ask you to assess your professional skills in our application form (photo and video shooting, knowledge of editing software, etc.), these are not determining factors in the selection process. Rather, this information serves to help tailor our program so that it best meets your professional needs.
We’ll inform the applicants about the decision taken by the jury in the mid of May.

Media-project Concept Guidelines:

The most important part of an application is your media project concept. A media project concept is a brief description of the media project you will be working on for the conclusion of the Summer School. You can propose a range of formats — an article or journalistic reporting, photo reporting, documentary film, podcast, multimedia project including various elements, etc.

We request applicants to clearly state the theme of their journalism project, explain its relevance, specify the format of the project, and develop a preliminary work plan. It is important that the project be realistic and that the author be prepared to complete it by the end of the calendar year. For examples of such projects you read the materials prepared by our alumni in the section “Media Projects”.

Our program is designed for individuals. We therefore do not consider team proposals. You may, however, you may involve others in the course of your project.

As of 2022 we will give preference to media project applications focusing on a medium-term perspective and that will result in a series of materials (articles, podcasts, multimedia, etc.)

Information for Participants

Course Details:

The School-2023 will take place from July 16th to July 29th, 2023 in Germany. The School’s program will include seminars with editors in which students will present and discuss their projects. Depending on the theme and genre of the project, the School will select curators who will mentor students. The School can help facilitate the publication of the best materials on the platforms of its media partners. 

Lectures and seminars will take place on weekdays (however, possible exceptions may occur depending on the schedules of our lecturers).  We expect that Summer School participants will attend all lectures and seminars. On weekends we offer students cultural and athletic events, or they may plan their own weekend activities. Our program is quite demanding, so participants will not be able to have a job during its duration.

Location of Program

This year the School will be held at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.

Expenses and Visa Approval

The Summer School will be held in Germany. More details on the exact location will be provided later. The Boris Nemtsov Foundation will provide a letter of acceptance to selected participants and visa support. However, we can not guarantee that selected participants will get visas for entry to Germany. 

The School covers all transportation expenses, accommodation, meals and medical insurance.