The Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is among the host institutions in Europe that will welcome one of the 10 grant-winning journalists selected by the FRONTIERS Science Journalism Residency Programme for the first semester of 2025
The winning journalist is Rina Caballar from New Zealand. A software developer by training with a master’s degree in computer science, she is also a writer by passion. Caballar is a contributing editor at IEEE Spectrum and has written for National Geographic, BBC, and other publications. She primarily covers technology and its intersections with science, society, and the environment.
Rina Caballar will spend three months at IIT in Genoa, immersed in the international scientific community of the Institute. During her residency, she will explore the science and technology of bio-inspired soft robotics, as well as deepen her understanding of the plant kingdom
This residency will be the first of its kind but marks the second experience for IIT. In February 2023, IIT successfully hosted the one-month science journalism residency of the freelance journalist Christine Ro with the support of the European Research Council (ERC). The experience engaged 20 researchers who are experts in robotics, new materials, and technologies for life sciences. Ro writes about science and the environment for publications including the BBC, Forbes, the British Medical Journal, and Nature.
FRONTIERS is the science journalism initiative the European Research Council (ERC) funded in 2023. The project allows science journalists to cover frontier science topics within research institutions in the European Union or an associated country with the EU’s Horizon Europe, ensuring journalistic independence. Residencies offer a unique opportunity for fellows to explore frontier research. The journalists’ projects will delve into various issues shaping society with topics spanning climate change, technology, life sciences, health and medical journalism, data sharing, and space exploration. Representing a mix of early-career, mid-career, and established professionals, the selected fellows originate from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each fellow will receive a grant of up to €6,000 per month to support their work.
The second call for the FRONTIERS Residency Programme, which closed in September 2024, received 47 applications. The third call of the programme will open in 2025.
For more information on the FRONTIERS project, visit www.frontiers.media.
