LEGO Foundation Fellowship 2027: A Global Opportunity for Child Development Research
The LEGO Foundation Fellowship 2027 is now accepting applications, offering a significant opportunity for early- and mid-career scholars dedicated to understanding how children thrive. This prestigious fellowship provides substantial financial support and a global network for researchers whose work addresses critical issues affecting children worldwide. Administered by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) in partnership with the LEGO Foundation, the fellowship aims to generate evidence that can lead to real-world improvements in children’s lives.
About the LEGO Foundation Fellowship
The LEGO Foundation Fellowship is designed to support researchers who are exploring the complex factors that influence children’s learning, growth, development, and overall well-being. This initiative aligns with the LEGO Foundation’s long-standing commitment to enhancing children’s lives through education, creativity, play-based learning, and inclusive development. The fellowship is particularly relevant given current global challenges, such as humanitarian crises, educational disparities, mental health concerns, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence on young lives. It seeks to empower researchers to produce evidence that can inform policy, practice, and systems designed to better support children globally.
Fellowship Funding and Benefits
Selected fellows will receive comprehensive support over a three-year period, from February 1, 2027, to December 31, 2029. This program offers more than just financial backing; it aims to build a community of scholars and provide resources for career advancement.
Financial Support
Each fellow will receive USD 300,000 over three years. This funding is intended to be flexible and can cover a wide range of research-related expenses. These include research personnel, professional travel, equipment, data collection, dissemination activities, trainee support, operational costs, Institutional Review Board (IRB) expenses, and travel for fellowship meetings. The funding also includes 15% for indirect costs, administered by the fellow’s institution.
Global Fellowship Community
Fellows become part of an international, interdisciplinary network of researchers focused on children’s thriving. This community offers opportunities for global collaboration, research exchange, and peer learning. It fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and provides platforms for networking with policymakers and practitioners, helping to bridge the gap between research and action.
Convenings and Visibility
The fellowship includes annual meetings and virtual cohort sessions, providing regular opportunities for research sharing and engagement. Fellows also benefit from international visibility through the LEGO Foundation network and potential media opportunities, along with support for disseminating their research outputs.
Career Advancement
The program is structured to support the long-term career development of researchers. It aims to strengthen leadership capacity, advance impactful research agendas, facilitate the translation of evidence into practice, and build valuable interdisciplinary partnerships.
Research Themes for the Fellowship
Applicants must align their proposed research with one or more of the fellowship’s three core themes. These themes reflect pressing global issues impacting children today.
Theme 1: The Youngest Children in Crisis and Conflict Settings
This theme focuses on children from birth to age eight who are living in crisis, displacement, or humanitarian settings. Research can explore mechanisms of resilience, pathways to thriving, strengthening caregiving and family environments, and scaling effective interventions. Studies examining how evidence-based interventions are adopted and implemented in humanitarian contexts are also welcome. The program specifically encourages research involving refugee children, internally displaced children, and vulnerable children in host communities.
Theme 2: Inclusion and Wellbeing of Neurodivergent Children
This theme centers on neurodivergent children, with a particular focus on autism and ADHD. Research may investigate support systems available before diagnosis, the role of family environments, and strategies for creating inclusive learning environments. It also covers research on maintaining support during developmental transitions and the use of enabling technologies that reduce barriers to participation and learning for neurodivergent children.
Theme 3: Children’s Learning and Development in an AI-Enabled World
This theme examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on children’s experiences and development. Topics include how AI influences adult-child connections, its effects on social-emotional development and help-seeking behaviors, and its role in productive struggle during learning. Research exploring whether AI exacerbates or reduces educational inequalities is also encouraged. While play can be included if relevant to the research, it is not a mandatory component of proposals.
Eligibility and Application Requirements
The LEGO Foundation Fellowship is open to early- and mid-career researchers globally. Applicants must hold a PhD or equivalent research doctorate awarded no earlier than January 1, 2016, and be employed by a university or research institute. Individual applications are required, and proposed research must align with at least one of the fellowship themes. The program acknowledges documented career breaks, such as parental leave or illness.
Eligible Disciplines and Countries
A wide range of academic disciplines are encouraged, including education, psychology, public health, sociology, neuroscience, economics, data science, disability studies, humanitarian studies, child development, human-computer interaction, and implementation science. Applicants from all countries are welcome, with the exception of those subject to EU or US sanctions.
Application Materials
Prospective fellows must submit an online application form, a CV or resume (maximum 2 pages), a research abstract (250-word limit), a personal statement (500-word limit) detailing motivation and contribution, and a research proposal (maximum 5 pages) covering relevance, originality, methods, and feasibility. A budget with justification and a selected bibliography (maximum 2 pages) are also required.
Application Timeline and Selection Process
Applications opened on June 1, 2026, with a deadline of July 31, 2026. The selection process involves two stages: an initial review by international childhood development specialists and multidisciplinary reviewers, followed by final selections made by a LEGO Foundation review committee. Applicants will be notified of the results in November 2026. Up to 10 fellowships will be awarded.
