Tobacco Free Future
Fellowship
Cigarettes still kill 8 million people every year worldwide. The industry that sells them turns over $900 billion annually, spends billions on marketing, and has decades of experience dodging laws and regulations. Most people think this is a battle we already won. It isn't.
The Tobacco Free Future Fellowship is building a dedicated team to change that. Six fellows working as a unit inside European tobacco control organizations, anchored around the EU's review of the Tobacco Products Directive. Seven months, a full salary, and a cohort of ambitious professionals from across Europe. You start contributing from day one.
Note: Do you work for an organization that could move the needle on tobacco control? Join as an associate fellow one day per week alongside your current role.
The Program
Seven months. A full salary. A direct path into Europe's tobacco control movement.
Selection
Our application process focuses on skills over credentials, with multiple rounds to identify the right talent. More on the process below.
Training
One month of intensive preparation including a training week in the Netherlands and Brussels: impact thinking, policy skills, industry tactics, regulatory frameworks, and advocacy strategy.
Placement
Six months inside a leading tobacco control organization in Europe. Not an internship — live policy, active campaigns, real challenges from day one. You're matched based on your skills and the organization's needs.
Cohort
Your cohort shares a mission: the EU's review of the Tobacco Products Directive. You’ll have regular sessions with your cohort throughout the placement to share what you're learning, work through challenges together, and build a network that lasts beyond the program.
Outflow
80% of our first cohort stayed in the field they entered. We ensure you keep access to an unmatched network, and provide ongoing career support to help you land your next role.
Why Tobacco?
This fellowship puts you on the frontlines: fighting industry disinformation, strengthening regulation, changing the public narrative, and building the European network for a tobacco-free future.
Help the good guys
We Offer
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We're looking for
Eligibility
- Minimum of five years' experience in relevant fields. Non-linear careers welcome. We select on skills, not credentials.
- Eligibility to work in the EU (UK applicants welcome). We're particularly looking for professionals based in or connected to Germany, Poland, Romania, France, Lithuania, Greece, and Italy.
Profile
- Law, strategic communications, marketing, policy, health or fiscal economics, or strategy consulting. Legal expertise is especially in demand.
- You don't need a background in tobacco or public health. This is a career transition program — we're looking for transferable skills, not subject-matter expertise.
- Self-starting and entrepreneurial. Fellows in this program work as a project team: you won't just be placed at an organization, you'll be building the movement together with your cohort.
Apply as associate Fellow
Working at an organization with a stake in tobacco control or public health — even adjacent ones, like a health insurer or a government health agency?
Apply as an associate fellow. You stay with your current employer and join the program one day per week. We train and onboard you as part of the cohort, so you can become an advocate for this cause within your own organization.
What Happens After You Apply
Application period
Submit your application here by April 27, end of day (any timezone). This takes approximately 1,5 hours.
Video Interview
Complete a short recorded video interview via Hireflix.
Written assignment
Complete a written test task relevant to the fellowship.
Personal Interviews
Meet the team behind the fellowship program you applied to.
Host org matching
Get matched with a host organization for your fellowship placement.
Selection results
Receive the final decision on your application.
*Exact dates for interviews and host organization matching may vary slightly per program. You'll receive specific scheduling details once you progress to that stage.
You can't unlearn this
Frequently Asked Questions
Some of our programs provide financial and logistical support with temporary relocation to your placement location. See program details for more.
No, there is no job guarantee after the fellowship. Your fellowship will have equipped you with many desired skills and many contacts to organisations and funders. You must find your own place after the fellowship.
Yes, there is a limited number of hybrid fellowship spots available for the EU Food Transition (2,5 days per week) and Tobacco Free Future (1 day per week) programs. Only these two tracks let you join without leaving your current role or committing full-time. Please be aware that the part-time option is self-funded, as we can only fund fellows who can commit fulltime.
Most host-organisations require you to be present at least 2 - 3 days in their office in Brussels. It is also good to be there to network and lobby. So, either you do relocate, or you spend every week two of three days and nights in Brussels. There is a budget to reimburse your costs for travel and accommodation, up to 1000 euro per month.
No, you cannot apply for the EU/Global Fellowships (Tax, Food Transition, Tobacco) if you already applied or will apply to the Food System Reform Fellowship (US).
Our Host Organizations
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Meet Our Fellows
They quit their jobs, joined the fellowship, and didn't look back. See where they are now.
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From the Field shares personal insights and stories from people working on some of the world's most pressing challenges. It is run by our Moral Ambition Fellows: professionals who left successful careers to work on challenges that are sizable, solvable, and sorely overlooked.
Watch Our Films
Go behind the scenes of the Brussels Fellowship — from training week to the halls of parliament.
other Fellowships
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