The Hill’s staff reporter Hans Nichols has been awarded a 2005 Fulbright journalism scholarship.

It was awarded in recognition of his outstanding work reporting on Congress for The Hill, and for his academic achievements. In his two and a half years at The Hill, Nichols has gained a widely admired reputation for his exclusive news stories on Congresssional Democrats, the party grassroots and on the Democratic National Committee.

For the duration of the 10-month scholarship, Nichols will be based in Freetown, where he will study the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a war-crimes tribunal dealing with the aftermath of civil war in that West African nation.