Camp Serrapilheira 2024: Podcasts

Deadline Date: May 14, 2024

Donor Name: Serrapilheira Institute

Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000

The Serrapilheira Institute welcomes podcast projects from all over the country, led by black people and which tell good stories in which science and the scientific method play a central role.

Up to 8 projects will be selected, whose teams will participate in a hybrid training program and receive financial support for the production of a season.

Training Program

• The training will be conducted by Laboratório 37, a communications company focused on audio. The company is responsible for creating the podcast 37 Graus, which was one of the 14 projects supported by Serrapilheira in 2018 and one of the six selected in the Google Podcasts creator program, a call for proposals that had more than 10 thousand registrations around the world. 
• The training program’s main goal will be to refine and develop the proposals for the selected podcasts according to their objectives and target audiences. Furthermore, the purpose is to strengthen the technical and editorial skills of producers – from the agenda to publication –, as well as the capabilities necessary to prepare the distribution, marketing and financial viability planning of the podcasts, aiming at the sustainability of the projects. Classes will feature teachers and guest speakers.
• At the end of the training, participants will have built the technical and conceptual bases to develop their projects with clarity about their objectives and the processes necessary to achieve them. The idea is that, during this period, each podcast develops a professional-level pilot season. The selected projects will also feature remote mentoring sessions via Laboratory 37. 
• The online training will last 7 weeks. There will be two classes per week, 2 hours each, held in the evening. Training may also require additional readings and extra exercises. Two members per project will be required to participate in classes. Members chosen to participate in online classes must play a leadership role within the project and participate in the face-to-face stage.
• The in-person stage includes a 4-day immersion, in a city to be defined. Candidates must be available to travel. The costs will be covered by Serrapilheira.

Funding Information

• Those selected will receive up to 55 thousand reais in financing from Serrapilheira to carry out their projects. The final amount of support will depend on approval of the proposed budget. 
• Contracts will last 10 months from the start of training.
• The resources will be transferred in the form of a donation. Non-exempt organizations will be subject to gift tax and other charges.

What do they want to find?

• This public call is aimed exclusively at projects led by black people. Furthermore, the teams must be made up mainly of black people.
• The notice seeks good podcast projects in which science plays an important role and the areas of science supported by Serrapilheira life sciences, geosciences, physics, chemistry, computer science or mathematics have visibility. 
• They accept proposals for podcasts in a wide range of formats, but projects that present good script structures will be prioritized over proposals for live, improvised conversations. 
• They are looking for candidates who demonstrate seriousness, commitment and affinity with Serrapilheira’s values. 

Why is this call exclusive to projects led by black people?

• Even though self-declared black people represent 55.9% of the Brazilian population (2022 Census), this percentage is not reflected in the distribution of color/race in journalism and in the Brazilian audiovisual and podcast markets, especially in leadership positions.
• According to a study carried out by the Affirmative Action Multidisciplinary Study Group (Gemaa-Uerj), in the three largest newspapers in circulation in the country, there is an overrepresentation of white people in the teams, totaling 84% of the employee composition. Another study by the same group points to the underrepresentation of black people in leadership positions in the audiovisual market. 
• This call reaffirms diversity in science as a value at Serrapilheira, not only as a movement towards equal talent, but because they are convinced that new and creative ideas, which feed projects of excellence, are favored by plurality. 
• Self-declared black (black and brown) candidates selected for the interview stage will go through the complementary procedure to self-declaration, which consists of a virtual meeting between the person responsible for the submitted proposal and the Self-Declaration Confirmation Committee. 
• Confirmation of self-declaration is carried out by a group made up of five members, respecting gender and color/race diversity, with knowledge on the topic of promoting racial equality and proven experience in this procedure.
• To measure the condition self-declared by the candidate, phenotypic aspects are considered, marked by traits related to skin color (black or brown) and predominant facial aspects such as lips, nose and hair texture, which, whether combined or not, will allow confirmation of self-declaration. The genotypic factor of the candidate or the phenotypic factor of relatives is not considered.
• The heteroclassification procedure is filmed and the recording is used in the analysis of any appeals filed by candidates.
• The heteroclassification commission deliberates by the majority of its members and issues an opinion. The content of the opinion is restricted to members of the heteroclassification group and the Serrapilheira Institute.
• In the case of an appeal, it is assessed and judged, once, by another group of five members, respecting gender and color/race diversity, with knowledge on the topic of promoting racial equality and proven experience in this procedure. . The decision of this review group is irrevocable.
• Candidates who do not attend the heteroclassification procedure or do not have their self-declaration confirmed by the Self-Declaration Confirmation Committee will be automatically disqualified.

Eligibility Criteria

• Only proposals from candidates self-declared as a black person (black or mixed race) whose teams are majority black will be considered. 
• Proposals will be accepted from podcasts that are still in the conception phase (pre-launch), as well as from projects already underway that wish to include or improve the presence of science in their programs. 
• It is not necessary to be part of a large organization, such as a media group, a radio station or a news portal. Proposals from small organizations or independent producers will also be analyzed, as long as they can demonstrate previous experience and conditions to carry out the project.
• Proposals that cannot clearly argue about the role of science in their podcast or that disregard the areas of knowledge supported by Serrapilheira will be disregarded.
• Proposals must be sent in Portuguese. Training and follow-up sessions will also be carried out in Portuguese.

For more information, visit Serrapilheira Institute.