The LEGO Foundation Fellowship
The LEGO Foundation Fellowship funds global research on how children thrive, focusing on crisis, neurodiversity, and AI, supporting early/mid-career researchers for three years.
Funder: Social Science Research Council
Due Dates: July 31, 2026: Full application submission deadline (applications must be submitted through the online portal by 11:59 EST)
Funding Amounts: $300,000 total over three years (includes up to 15% indirect costs)
Summary: Supports early- and mid-career researchers globally to advance understanding of how children thrive, focusing on crisis, neurodiversity, and AI.
Key Information: Applicants must have received their PhD between Jan 1, 2016 and July 31, 2026, and be employed by a university or research institute.
Description
The LEGO Foundation Fellowship is a global research program designed to support early- and mid-career researchers working to deepen our understanding of how children thrive in diverse and challenging contexts. The fellowship provides three years of flexible funding for ambitious, rigorous, and practically relevant research. Fellows join a cohort working across three main themes: (1) the youngest children in crisis and conflict settings, (2) inclusion and wellbeing of neurodivergent children, and (3) children’s learning and development in an AI-enabled world.
Fellows benefit from opportunities for exchange, feedback, and dissemination of research findings to academic, policy, and practice audiences. The program encourages interdisciplinary approaches and aims to build evidence that informs real-world action for children.
