DAAD InternXchange

National deadline:  February 24, 2013

Eligibility requirements: 

• Undergraduate students, graduate students, graduating seniors and recent graduates may apply.
• Applicants should either be enrolled in a school of journalism in the United States, or demonstrate significant interest/activity in journalism or public relations, (eg. university newspapers or internship).
• Applicants must have German language proficiency at least equal to the “advanced intermediate” level.
• Applicants should also have a demonstrated interest in Germany and German affairs, i.e. an awareness of current political news coverage of Germany in the American media, and general familiarity with German history, culture and society.

Award summary and conditions:  Successful applicants will travel to Germany at the beginning of June to begin the intensive 11-week program. The program schedule is broken down into the following components:

Weeks 1–6:
A series of full-day, academically oriented seminars at the FU Berlin. The seminar program is specially designed to deepen participants' understanding of the politics, society and culture of Germany and the country's current media structure and working conditions of journalists. Speakers include outstanding experts, prominent political leaders and well-known journalists. Additional seminars on professional values and ethics of journalism will be offered as well.
Week 2:
Excursions within Germany together with a group of young colleagues from the Independent States of the former Soviet Union. This other group of stipendiaries will be participating in a parallel DAAD program also hosted at the Freie Universität (FU) Berlin.
Weeks 7–11:
An intensive five-week internship with a German newspaper, (online) magazine, TV station, radio station, press or PR agency in and near Berlin.

Applicants who are finally selected for the program will be awarded a monthly stipend of €650 for the duration of their stay in Germany.

DAAD will also provide health and accident insurance. Intercontinental travel will be at the participant's expense. Participants will be housed for the duration of the program in student residence halls in Berlin, the costs of which will be paid from the monthly stipend.

 Application guidelines: 

The application consists of the following documents:

• Application form can be found at this link:  http://www.polsoz.fuberlin.de/kommwiss/institut/journalistenkolleg/internXchange/Bewerbung/index.html
• Resume (in German)
• Statement of motivation (in German, roughly 2 pages, double spaced)
• 1 page journalistic writing sample or broadcast transcript
• Two letters of recommendation from professors in your major field of study (Students who are not journalism/communications majors may have one letter from a supervising editor at a publication where they have worked or a faculty supervisor in the case of student newspapers).
• Official academic transcript(s)
• DAAD German Language Evaluation Certificate (Sprachzeugnis) (The language evaluation form must be completed and signed by a faculty member of the German Department at the applicant's institution or by an official of a Goethe Institute.)

Mail the application in one PDF document to: internx@zedat.fu-berlin.de.  For further information concerning the required documents, the application procedure and details of the program, please read the Call for Applications. 

Incomplete or late applications will not be accepted.

Faculty representative:  Keith Raether

Notification: Applicants will be notified in early March if they will be interviewed via Skype with the jury in Berlin. Interviews will take place mid-March.  A selection committee will select up to 15 participants/recipients.

Contact: Annekathrin Günther at internx@zedat.fu-berlin.de