About the Fellowship Program
For this call, we are seeking the next cohort of fellows for our exciting and dynamic fellowship program starting in 2026. The fellowship program aims to foster collaboration between researchers, journalists, and policymakers in exploring the impact of digital technology and AI on media, politics, and democracy. Through the fellowship program, selected fellows will have the opportunity to generate new knowledge, contribute to the public debate, develop new networks, collaborate with a mentor at DDC, the larger DDC environment, and its partners, and produce tangible outreach outputs such as policy briefs, educational packages, and talks.
The Digital Democracy Centre x TrygFonden Fellowship Program welcomes diverse fellows, including academic fellows researching digital technology and democracy, journalist fellows covering topics related to digital democracy, and policy fellows contributing to regulatory debates and practical implementation in the field of digital democracy.
About the Digital Democracy Centre (DDC)
Our society has entered an era where digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are proliferating. Digital technologies and AI have the potential to augment or replace human decision-making, contributing to the public good, but they also can disrupt and threaten it. The impact of data, digitalization, and AI on media and politics affects the very core of democracy. Issues such as new AI technology, microtargeting, online robot journalism, fake news, authenticity in images and text, trust in information, and automatic decisions in both public and private institutions raise significant questions that cannot typically be answered from a single perspective.
The DDC was founded at the University of Southern Denmark in 2021 to address this challenge. The DDC aims to develop new socio-technical, interdisciplinary approaches to study the impact of digital technology and AI on media, politics, and democracy. Core research areas include Digital Democratic Integrity, Digital Democracy and Societal Transition, AI, Media and Journalism, and Citizens, Organisations, and new Technologies. The DDC is composed of 40 researchers who are leading scholars in areas such as AI, algorithms, computer science, communication, journalism, economics, political science, media studies and law. In the first years, the DDC launched a series of interdisciplinary research projects funded by SDU, foundations, and external media partners and attracted both national and international funding for further projects. Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers with an interdisciplinary mind work across disciplines, actively promoting DDC's core topics through social media and other channels.
The DDC is led by Professor Claes de Vreese, a Danish scholar and one of the world's leading experts in media, technology, democracy, and political communication, Lena Frischlich, a renowned media psychologist and communication scholar studying threats to democracy and measures to foster democratic resilience in digital environments and Curd Knüpfer a political scientist whose research focuses on how digitalization shapes communication flows between new forms of media, publics, and political elites. They work closely with an interdisciplinary Steering Committee bringing together Ayo Næsborg-Andersen, an expert on law in the intersection between human rights and new technologies, Fabrizio Montesi, Professor of Computer Science at IMADA and DIAS chair, who heads the section of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Programming Languages, Lene Heiselberg, an Associate Professor at Centre for Journalism, SDU studying audience-centered journalism, and Oliver Baumann, a Professor with special responsibilities at the Department of Business & Management and Head of the Section Strategic Organization Design (SOD).
Purpose of the Fellowship Program
The purpose of the Fellowship Program is to utilize and leverage the knowledge of DDC in a new way. The objective is to generate new knowledge and foster interaction between TrygFonden, DDC, new and existing partners of DDC, and the selected fellows. We aim for the Fellowship program to lead to new knowledge and tangible outputs, such as new networks, new collaborations, educational packages, contributions to the public debate in Denmark and beyond, policy briefs, talks, and other outreach activities.
Accepted fellows are eligible for various benefits. Besides their relationship with their self-selected DDC mentor, these benefits may include financial support, access to DDC’s research resources, flexible working spaces, speaker series, and networks, and a platform to showcase their work and be part of the larger DDC alumni network. The specific benefits and support provided may differ based on the agreement between the individual fellow, DDC, and any partnering organizations.
Types of fellows
The Digital Democracy Centre x TrygFonden fellowship program welcomes a diverse range of fellows. The target group of the fellowship program is researchers, journalism graduates, and policymakers who may currently hold various positions in national and international research and educational institutions as well as in media organizations, ministries, NGOs, etc.
As such, the Digital Democracy Centre x TrygFonden fellowship offers three types of fellowships:
1) academic fellows (who research digital technologies and democracy)
2) journalist fellows (who cover digital technology and democracy)
3) policy fellows (who contribute to the regulatory debate on digital technology and democracy)
Expectations
Before submitting their application, potential fellows are expected to seek confirmation of mentorship from their desired mentor directly. More information about THE PEOPLE working at DDC can be obtained via OUR WEBSITE. It is the responsibility of the applicant to connect with a prospective mentor and obtain their agreement. Candidates are also required to coordinate and ensure support by their current supervisors/ heads of departments/managers, etc. in advance of submitting their application.
During their fellowship, fellows are expected to actively engage in activities related to DDC, collaborate with other fellows or researchers within DDC, participate in seminars or workshops, and contribute to the overall objectives of the fellowship program and DDC. This can include stays of varying lengths at the DDC. Stays should generally be planned to adhere to the Danish working calendar and should be coordinated with the respective mentor. Fellows are also required to present their findings, e.g., participate in public outreach activities.
Maximum two months after their fellowship, fellows are expected to hand in a short report about their fellowship experiences. Fellows will also be automatically included in the larger DDC alumni network.
Practical Information about the Fellowship Program
The Digital Democracy Centre x TrygFonden fellowship program is a dynamic program, where there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The length of the fellowship is flexible (2-12 months), as well as the content and the candidates' backgrounds. For this call, we are seeking fellows who are interested in a fellowship beginning in 2026. The fellowship program offers either a salary subsidy or a stipend to help with travel and/or housing. Candidates are required to describe the posts they are seeking support for in their application. The organization of each fellowship will include a primary mentor/host from the DDC as well as relevant external partners to DDC who actively engage in collaboration with the fellow and the close exchange with the DDC management team. The specific team is established in collaboration with TrygFonden.
Application and Deadlines
Candidates interested in a fellowship in 2026 are required to submit an application that includes a CV and an individual project plan, which should include a proposal for a specific project to be carried out in collaboration with a practice partner. This could, for example, be a concrete invention that is linked to an ongoing research project either at DDC or at other research institutions, it could involve practical collaborations with NGOs and/or consumer organizations, media organizations, or with public institutions such as schools, ministries, etc. It could also involve creating political recommendations or informing practical initiatives in public administration.
The application must be written in English.
The application should contain the following:
- Preliminary project title
- Brief project description and purpose (max 1000 characters)
- Detailed description and timeline (max 2400 characters)
- including the confirmed mentor
- including expectations for the fellowship duration (min. two months can include shorter stays at the DDC and remote periods) and a start date within the Danish working times.
- work plan (distribution between remote work / in-office work at Odense, Denmark, etc.)
- Description of specific activities and collaboration with external practice partners (max 1000 characters)
- Expected ‘product’, impact, and output (max 500 characters)
- Attached CV (max 5 pages)
- An overview of the posts for which financial support is sought (e.g., flights, housing, research costs, compensation for salary, stipend, etc.)
The application deadline is September 15th, 2025
The decision about the acceptance or rejection of an application will be made by an interdisciplinary committee. Candidates will be informed no later than October 15th, 2025.
The application should be filled out using THIS APPLICATION FORM and sent, along with the CV as PDF files, to ddc@sdu.dk with the subject line 'DDC / TrygFonden Fellowship application'.
Please contact ddc@sdu.dk with the subject line 'Question: DDC / TrygFonden Fellowship application' for any questions regarding the application process or the organizational aspects of the fellowship