For 75 years, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard (of which Nieman Lab is a part) has been bringing journalists to Cambridge for year-long runs as a Nieman Fellow. But last year, we began a new kind of fellowship — a short-term Visiting Fellowship for “individuals interested in working on special research projects designed to advance journalism.” The foundation just made a call for applications, and I suspect there are some Nieman Lab readers who’d have good ideas to propose.

All the details are available at the Visiting Fellowships page, but here’s an excerpt:

Who should apply? Applicants need not be practicing journalists, but must demonstrate the ways in which their work at Harvard and the Nieman Foundation may improve the prospects for journalism’s future. This may be related to research, programming, design, financial strategies or another topic. U.S. and international applicants are welcome.

Those who should consider applying include publishers, programmers, Web designers, media analysts, academics, journalists and others interested in enhancing quality, building new business models or designing programs to improve journalism. The proposed project may be completed during the time spent at Harvard or be part of a larger undertaking. All visiting fellows are expected to be in residence in Cambridge during their study and present their findings to the Nieman community at the end of their research period.

While at Harvard: Successful applicants are invited to the Nieman Foundation for a period ranging from a few weeks to three months, depending on the scope of the project. Nieman Visiting Fellows have access to the extensive intellectual resources at Harvard and throughout Cambridge, including scholars, research centers and libraries. Successful applicants also have the opportunity to work with the Nieman Fellows and the various standing and evolving projects housed at the Nieman Foundation (Nieman Reports, Nieman Journalism Lab, Nieman Storyboard, initiatives related to watchdog journalism and others).

The application process is straightforward — the heart of it is a 500-word proposal explaining what you’d like to do and how it would benefit journalism. If you’ve got an idea, apply!

(One other note: The deadlines aren’t quite as pressing — December 1 for non-U.S. citizens, January 31 for U.S. citizens — but applications are also now open for our traditional, year-long fellowships. More information about those here.)