Fellowship
Applications are now open for the UK–West Africa Media Excellence in Emerging Technologies (MEET) Fellowship 2026, a professional development programme designed to strengthen the capacity of journalists and digital content creators in Ghana and Nigeria to report accurately, creatively and responsibly on science, innovation and emerging technologies. The programme is delivered by the British High Commission, working through its teams in Accra, Lagos and Abuja, in partnership with Imperial College London through Imperial Global Ghana.
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Applications are now open for the UK–West Africa Media Excellence in Emerging Technologies (MEET) Fellowship 2026, a professional development programme designed to strengthen the capacity of journalists and digital content creators in Ghana and Nigeria to report accurately, creatively and responsibly on science, innovation and emerging technologies.
The programme is delivered by the British High Commission, working through its teams in Accra, Lagos and Abuja, in partnership with Imperial College London through Imperial Global Ghana.
The UK MEET Fellowship responds to a growing need for media professionals who can take complicated scientific and technological subjects and translate them into accurate, engaging and accessible journalism for diverse audiences.
Selected participants will take part in online preparation and an intensive six-night residential training programme in either Ghana or Nigeria. The Fellowship combines science and technology reporting with practical digital storytelling and opportunities to engage directly with researchers, policymakers, innovators and industry professionals.
Participants will also develop an original story concept during the programme. On the final day of the residential training, Fellows will pitch their stories for the opportunity to receive funding to produce and publish them. A subset of participants selected through the pitch process will subsequently take part in a fully funded, week-long knowledge-exchange visit to London, including engagement with Imperial College London.
The programme particularly encourages applications from women, journalists and creators outside major urban centres, applicants from underrepresented regions, and marginalized groups.
Applications must be submitted through the official online form.
The Media Excellence in Emerging Technologies Fellowship, commonly referred to as the MEET Fellowship or UK MEET Fellowship, is designed to strengthen media professionals’ ability to communicate developments in science, innovation and technology, referred to throughout the programme as SIT.
Scientific and technological developments increasingly influence almost every part of public life. Artificial intelligence is changing work, education and communication. Climate and environmental risks affect communities, infrastructure and national planning. Biomedical technologies raise new possibilities and difficult ethical questions. Electronic waste and circular-economy approaches influence environmental policy, health, employment and manufacturing.
Yet these subjects are often difficult to report well.
Journalists and digital storytellers need to understand enough of the underlying science and technology to distinguish evidence from hype, identify credible experts, ask informed questions, explain uncertainty and communicate technical information without making it inaccessible to general audiences.
The UK MEET Fellowship is built around this challenge.
Rather than focusing only on conventional journalism techniques, the programme brings together science understanding, public communication, emerging technology, ethics and digital storytelling.
Its central purpose is to help participants translate complex scientific and technological ideas into content that is:
The Fellowship therefore combines subject knowledge with practical media skills.
Participants are not expected simply to become experts in one technology. Instead, the programme aims to give journalists and digital creators a stronger framework for approaching unfamiliar and rapidly changing scientific subjects.
The programme is delivered through a partnership involving major UK institutions.
The British High Commission is a funding and delivery partner for the Fellowship.
Applications from Ghana and Nigeria will be reviewed through the appropriate British High Commission teams associated with the applicant’s country track.
The official application information explains that participant information will be shared between Imperial College London and the relevant British High Commission teams for purposes including:
The initiative also connects with broader UK objectives around innovation, science partnerships and evidence-informed policymaking.
Imperial College London participates through Imperial Global Ghana.
Imperial brings substantial scientific and technological expertise to the Fellowship, creating opportunities for journalists and creators to interact with researchers rather than learning about science communication only through conventional media-training approaches.
The programme’s UK knowledge-exchange component also includes time at Imperial College London for selected pitch award winners.
The Fellowship is organized around several thematic areas and five core skills.
These competencies are intended to be transferable across different media beats.
A journalist may currently focus on health but later need to report on AI. A digital creator may focus on climate but encounter new questions around technology, agriculture or energy. The Fellowship therefore aims to strengthen the underlying skills required to approach complex evidence responsibly.
Artificial intelligence has quickly become one of the most important emerging-technology reporting areas.
Good AI reporting requires more than repeating claims from technology companies or presenting every new tool as revolutionary.
The Fellowship aims to equip participants with stronger tools for addressing questions of this kind.
Climate and environmental reporting often involves complicated data, scientific uncertainty and long-term trends.
Journalists need to communicate these issues without either overstating evidence or minimizing genuine risks.
For Ghanaian and Nigerian media professionals, these subjects can also be connected to very local questions affecting communities, livelihoods and public policy.
Biomedical innovation creates important opportunities for journalism at the intersection of science, health and society.
Reporting on these issues requires journalists to understand not only what a new technology promises, but also what evidence exists, which stage of development it has reached and what uncertainties remain.
The Fellowship also addresses the circular economy and electronic waste.
A circular-economy approach seeks to reduce waste and extend the useful life of materials through practices such as:
These subjects illustrate why emerging-technology journalism increasingly requires reporters to connect science with economics, politics, health and social issues.
The programme does not treat each thematic topic as an isolated subject.
Instead, five skills are applied throughout the training.
Participants will strengthen their ability to understand scientific or technological concepts well enough to report them accurately.
Journalists do not need to become scientists themselves, but they should be able to recognize:
Participants will work on communicating technical subjects clearly without sacrificing accuracy.
This is especially important when producing material for audiences that may have little specialist knowledge.
Technical precision and public accessibility.
The Fellowship also encourages participants to consider how new technologies affect society.
Rather than presenting innovation as automatically positive or negative, journalists can investigate:
Ethical considerations are explicitly included in the programme.
Ethical reporting becomes particularly important where scientific issues involve health, vulnerable populations or technologies whose long-term effects remain uncertain.
This can help journalists build confidence in interviewing experts and develop relationships that may continue after the Fellowship.
Six-night residential training camp.
The programme runs from Sunday evening through Friday evening.
Participants attend the residential programme in their country of residence.
Ghana-based Fellows attend the Ghana residential programme.
Nigeria-based Fellows attend the Nigeria residential programme.
Applicants may only apply through the country track in which they are currently based.
Applicants need to be available for all relevant programme components.
This is referred to as Phase 0.
Because the residential runs from Sunday evening to Friday evening, participants should expect the residential period to begin around Sunday, 11 October, followed by the training week beginning Monday, 12 October.
With the Sunday-evening residential structure, participants should expect arrival around Sunday, 18 October, followed by the programme week beginning Monday, 19 October.
Applicants should note carefully that the UK knowledge-exchange visit is not automatically guaranteed to everyone who attends the residential training.
It is intended for a selected subset of participants associated with the story-pitch award stage.
An important part of the Fellowship is hands-on digital storytelling.
These skills reflect the rapidly changing ways audiences consume journalism.
Media professionals increasingly need to understand how the same story may need to be adapted for:
The Fellowship therefore recognizes that strong science communication depends not only on the accuracy of information but also on how that information is presented.
These relationships can be particularly valuable for science and technology journalists because reliable reporting often depends on access to credible specialist sources.
A journalist who develops a network of researchers during the Fellowship may later be better positioned to obtain:
The Fellowship moves beyond classroom-style training by asking participants to develop an original journalism story concept.
On the final day of the residential programme, participants will pitch their developed idea for a chance to receive an award to:
Produce and publish the story.
This creates a direct bridge between training and real media output.
The public call does not state the monetary value of the pitch award.
Therefore, applicants should not assume or advertise a specific amount unless organizers subsequently provide one.
Although the programme does not prescribe one formula for a successful pitch, a promising story concept would likely benefit from having:
Candidates may benefit from thinking about possible story ideas even before entering the programme.
Fully funded, week-long knowledge-exchange visit to London.
The programme includes time at Imperial College London.
The detailed eligibility guidance also requires applicants to hold, or be capable of obtaining in time, a valid international passport because some participants may be selected for this international component.
Residential Fellowship participation does not automatically guarantee selection for the UK visit.
Applicants must satisfy all seven minimum eligibility requirements.
The organizers explicitly state that applicants who do not meet every minimum requirement will not be able to submit a complete application.
18 years old or above.
There is no maximum age stated in the official call.
Candidates must apply through the country track where they are currently based.
Applicants cannot choose another country’s track simply because its residential dates are more convenient.
on at least one relevant platform.
For creators, that public presence must feature content relevant to science, innovation or technology.
This is an important expansion beyond conventional newsroom journalism.
The Fellowship is therefore open not only to journalists employed by traditional media organizations, but also to qualifying digital-first creators.
Previous 12 months.
Applicants must have links available to share.
This requirement demonstrates that the programme is looking for applicants who already have some practical engagement with relevant subjects.
It is not simply an introductory programme for someone who has never produced any science- or technology-related content.
Partial attendance is not possible.
before submitting an application.
This is necessary because selected participants may travel to the United Kingdom for the knowledge-exchange component.
Applicants without a passport at the application stage are not necessarily automatically excluded, provided they are genuinely able to obtain one within the required timeframe.
Working and communicating professionally in English.
The programme does not state that candidates need to submit an IELTS, TOEFL or other formal English-language certificate.
The requirement concerns functional professional communication.
Candidates who satisfy all seven eligibility conditions move to competitive evaluation.
The official call provides a clear weighted selection framework.
This is the largest component of the assessment.
This means applicants should choose previous work examples strategically.
Nearly one-third of the evaluation is based on the quality of the applicant’s previous journalism or digital content.
Applicants will provide links to their work.
Applicants should therefore think beyond personal career development and explain how the programme could improve their wider professional impact.
Applicants may receive additional credit for demonstrating readiness to collaborate.
whose work they would like to amplify.
This accounts for 5% of the assessment.
At least 40% women in its cohorts.
This does not mean that only women are eligible.
It means gender representation forms part of the cohort-building process.
Applicants can use this weighting strategically.
Because 65% of the score comes from thematic relevance and previous work quality, choosing strong published work examples is likely to be particularly important.
Women applicants are explicitly encouraged.
within its cohorts.
This is an encouragement and selection consideration rather than a women-only eligibility condition.
Applicants of other genders remain eligible if they satisfy the programme requirements.
Regional representation, including locations outside major urban centres.
This is significant for journalists who might assume that applicants in Accra, Lagos or Abuja automatically have an advantage.
Media professionals based elsewhere in Ghana or Nigeria are expressly encouraged to participate.
The call does not restrict eligibility to any one racial, ethnic or social group.
Instead, diversity is treated as part of building a broader and more representative cohort.
Applicants must submit the official online application form.
The application begins with an eligibility screening process.
Applicants should therefore verify that they meet all seven minimum requirements before beginning.
The application then determines eligibility before allowing applicants to proceed with the full submission.
Because prior science and technology work forms a major part of selection, candidates should prepare links to at least five qualifying pieces of original work produced within the previous 12 months.
Imperial College London states that information collected through the application form will be used to:
Application information will also be accessible to the relevant British High Commission teams in accordance with the applicant’s country track.
Candidates should review the privacy information linked in the application before submission.
Do not simply submit the first five SIT-related pieces you can find.
Because previous work quality and thematic relevance together represent 65% of the selection weighting, choose examples that demonstrate:
If you have reported repeatedly on one topic, demonstrate clear subject knowledge.
If your work covers multiple themes, explain how the Fellowship would help you build a more coherent science and technology reporting practice.
Instead, explain what will change.
Concrete plans make potential impact easier to understand.
Because collaboration readiness is assessed, applicants may strengthen their submission by identifying:
This shows that the applicant is already thinking about journalism-research collaboration.
You do not need to arrive with a finished story.
However, having a promising direction can help you take fuller advantage of the residential programme.
Since pitch winners may travel to London soon after the residential training, passport preparation should not be left until the last minute.
The UK exchange is scheduled for the week of 30 November 2026, only several weeks after the Ghana and Nigeria residential programmes.
The call identifies GMT/Accra time for the deadline.
Applicants should submit early enough to avoid technical difficulties close to closing time.
Ghana residential: Week beginning 12 October 2026, with the six-night residential structure beginning Sunday evening
Nigeria residential: Week beginning 19 October 2026, with the six-night residential structure beginning Sunday evening
Partners: British High Commission and Imperial College London through Imperial Global Ghana
Required previous work: At least five original science, innovation or technology-related pieces during the previous 12 months
UK component: Fully funded, week-long London knowledge exchange for selected participants/pitch award winners
The UK Media Excellence in Emerging Technologies Fellowship 2026 offers journalists and digital content creators in Ghana and Nigeria an intensive opportunity to strengthen the quality of science, innovation and technology reporting in West Africa.
The programme goes considerably beyond a short journalism workshop. Participants will complete online preparation, join a six-night residential training programme, build practical skills in digital storytelling and engage directly with researchers, policymakers, innovators and industry professionals.
Training will address some of the most consequential emerging issues facing contemporary media, including artificial intelligence, climate and environmental risk, biomedical innovation, circular economy and electronic waste. At the same time, participants will develop transferable skills in interpreting complexity, communicating science, considering ethical questions and reporting emerging technologies in the public interest.
The programme also creates a practical pathway from learning to publication. Fellows will develop and pitch original stories, with selected pitches receiving an award to support production and publication. Selected participants will subsequently join a fully funded, week-long UK knowledge-exchange visit, including engagement at Imperial College London.
Eligibility is more specific than simply being a journalist in Ghana or Nigeria. Applicants must be at least 18, be currently based in one of the two countries, work as an eligible journalist or digital creator, have produced at least five original SIT-related pieces within the previous 12 months, commit to the entire training schedule, be able to obtain an international passport and work professionally in English.
Selection is competitive. Relevance to science, innovation and technology accounts for 35% of the assessment, quality of previous work for 30%, potential impact for 25%, collaboration readiness for 5%, and diversity and inclusion for 5%.
Women, applicants from underrepresented parts of Ghana and Nigeria, people outside major media centres and marginalized groups are particularly encouraged to apply.
Apply through the official form.
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