2025 Call for Proposals (LEVANTE)

Overview

The overarching objective of LEVANTE is to identify how individual variability, group heterogeneity, and contextual variability influence children’s learning and development. By including data collection of common measures on these different areas longitudinally and at a global level, LEVANTE will help researchers, educators, and policymakers understand child development within individuals, within groups, and across contexts, thus improving future learning outcomes for diverse groups of children worldwide. The focus of the Jacobs Foundation is fostering scientific excellence and building a strong network of internationally active researchers in the field of child and youth development with a strong focus on variability of learning and to foster long-term collaboration with other researchers and the Jacobs Foundation. 

LEVANTE seeks to understand how children grow, learn, and develop across different times, places, and contexts so that they can be supported to thrive in the multitude of experiences they will encounter throughout life. LEVANTE was conceptualised as the research mechanism that enables scientists around the world to address the transformative questions posed by the Jacobs Foundation Research Agenda. It brings together researchers from around the world to create the first cross-cultural, multidisciplinary open dataset aiming to capture the richness and diversity of child development and learning.

The overarching objective of LEVANTE is to identify how individual variability, group heterogeneity, and contextual variability influence children’s learning and development. By including data collection of common measures on these different areas longitudinally and at a global level, LEVANTE will help researchers, educators, and policymakers understand child development within individuals, within groups, and across contexts, thus improving future learning outcomes for diverse groups of children worldwide. The focus of the Jacobs Foundation is fostering scientific excellence and building a strong network of internationally active researchers in the field of child and youth development with a strong focus on variability of learning and to foster long-term collaboration with other researchers and the Jacobs Foundation.

LEVANTE Focus

1. Embracing and understanding variability in learning across the three dimensions described in the Jacobs Foundation Research Agenda: within-subject, within-group, and contextual variability.
2. Focus on typically developing children within the age range 2-12 (i.e., compulsory primary school years). However, because selecting measures for young children ages 2 – 5 carries a number of special challenges, the second RfP for LEVANTE focuses on children ages 5 –12. LEVANTE measures for children ages 2-5 are currently in a pilot phase for next year and will not be ready for use for another 18 months. If your population includes this age range, please consider postponing your application until the next cohort or reach out to the LEVANTE team at [email protected] for discussion.
3. This RfP places a particular emphasis on internationalisation, and we especially encourage applicants interested in implementing projects using LEVANTE measures in underrepresented regions or countries in the Global South. If you are planning to collect data in the Global South, please click here for more information.
4. The available measures address both the general constructs and the specific tasks and measures to be adopted by the LEVANTE framework for children ages 5 – 12. These measures are currently available in English, Spanish and German. Measures are currently being adapted to French and Dutch.

Main applicants should:  

• Have obtained a PhD or equivalent degree at least 5 years (excluding career breaks) prior to the application deadline; 
• Be employed by and be part of a research lab at an institution of higher education or research institute;
• Be conducting high-quality research in the area of variability of learning and development;
• Be committed to engaging with and contributing to the activities of both LEVANTE and the Jacobs Foundation. 

Award(s)
Small projects – new data Maximum budget: USD 600.000 over a minimum of 4 years
Large projects – new data: Maximum budget: USD 1.000.000 over a minimum of 4 years.

Timeline of Application Process: The LEVANTE application process is hosted by SurveyMonkey and consists of three stages:

Stage 1: Initial Application (June 27 – August 19, 2025) -- The initial application comprises three parts:

• General Information: You will be asked to submit general information about yourself, your team and your background.
• Application Form: Submit details of your study, including the project description, geographical focus, and target population age range.
• Upload your CV and a list of publications.

Following submission, your application will be reviewed by the external and internal review panel, as well as relevant members of the LEVANTE Steering Committee.

Stage 2: Extended Proposal (September 19 – November 19, 2025) -- If your initial application is successful, you will be asked to submit an extended proposal, which includes:

• Extended Proposal Form: Submit in depth description of your study.
• Timeline.
• Budget.

Your extended proposal will be reviewed by the review panel.

Stage 3: Interview (January 7-16, 2026) -- After your extended proposal is reviewed, you might be invited to an interview with the review panel. The final candidates will be presented for approval to the Jacobs Foundation Board.