The European Research Council supports with 1.5 million euros a residency programme for freelance science journalists in which the UPF participates

The consortium will fund journalists, at different stages of their careers, to train and learn about highly innovative fields of research that are hardly known to the lay public. The Studies Center on Science, Communication and Society (CCS) of the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) is part of the consortium that has been selected to receive 1.5 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC) to implement a program of residencies for science journalists in research institutions across Europe. The project, entitled FRONTIERS, will run from 2023 to 2027 and aims to promote journalistic independence and the coverage of frontier research topics , such as those typically supported by the ERC. Besides the residency program itself, the project will also develop , together with the relevant stakeholders and with the support of a multidisciplinary Advisory Board, a set of ethics principles, best practices and guidelines for journalistic fellowships in research institutions. FRONTIERS will support the fellows and the hosting institutions with a centralized help desk, provide training for both the fellow journalists and the researchers of the hosting institutions, and will develop a long term sustainability model as a project legacy. "To participate in this programme, journalists will have to submit an application for a three-to-five-month residency at an European research institution carrying out frontier research", explains Gema Revuelta , director of the CCS-UPF.