68% of German teens say social media helps them escape stress. 72% say it distracts them from other tasks. @candiceodgers.bsky.social argues that understanding what draws young people online is essential to supporting them.

How children learn can vary even within a single school day. Former Jacobs CIFAR Research Fellow Hanna Dumont sees this growing understanding of individual differences as a major advance in learning research. Applications for the next Fellowship cohort open 25 November.

Could we be getting social media and teen mental health backwards? Candice Odger's work raises that question. Tomorrow, she'll examine the wider evidence, then join Swiss experts to ask how we can help young people navigate digital life. 📺 3 Nov, 17:50 CET: www.youtube.com/live/UBoD60O...

Teacher coaching and effective instruction can substantially improve children’s reading and maths, even in some of the lowest-income settings. For Jacobs CIFAR Research Fellow Alex Eble, this stands out among the past decade’s scientific advances.

Are smartphones driving the youth mental health crisis? Candice Odgers challenged that assumption in her recent TED Talk. On 3 Nov, she joins Swiss experts to explore what research tells us about technology, mental health and learning. 📺 Watch live from 17:50 CET: www.youtube.com/live/UBoD60O...

Colombia has an active philanthropic sector. At Foro AFE Prosperidad Compartida in Medellín (27–29 October), Ana Cubillo will share how the Jacobs Foundation works with national and international funders to support education. We look forward to exchanging perspectives: foroprosperidadcompartida.com

Applications for the next Jacobs CIFAR Research Fellowship cohort open soon. To mark the Fellowship’s 10th anniversary, we asked ten Fellows about the scientific advances that stood out to them over the past decade. First up: developmental psychologist Julia Leonard on active learning.

A historical image can give students a reason to use past tense without making grammar the exercise. English teacher Alison Spence Montillet shares how she adapts museum material for her language lessons in a conversation with the Jacobs Foundation’s Digital Museum of Learning.

The proverb says it takes a village to raise a child. Marilyn Ahun’s research helps explain why: parents’ mental health is one of the strongest predictors of child development, and support from the people around a family can make a difference. Read the BOLD interview: bit.ly/4eju31u

The public health researcher asking what families need

What makes a healthy environment for children’s development?

boldscience.org

Three months to co-design. Three for ethical approval. Three in school. Three to publish. That was the plan for each Lighthouse EdTech Initiative pilot. In practice, each study had to fit startup timelines, research requirements and educators’ constraints.

In a Geneva classroom, students tried an online lesson with a 3D heart model before a dissection. Ease of use alone predicted their intention to use it (β=.443, p=.024). Surprisingly, perceived usefulness was the lowest-rated factor.

Public education creates value that lasts for decades, but doesn’t fit neatly into conventional investment models. So what makes it investable? Six leaders will tackle that question at #BuildingBridges2026. 📍 Room 9, CICG, Geneva 🗓 7 Oct, 10:30–12:00 CEST www.buildingbridges.org/2026-edition/

In locally grounded education work, sustainability has to be built before external support can step back. Ana Cubillo and Camilo Andrés Morales write about CEPE in Colombia, where sustainability means local coalitions can carry the work forward with less external support over time.

The Global Evidence Repository is being tested with questions from education partners’ own contexts. Evidence intermediaries, organizations connecting research with policy & practice, are checking whether the repository can help them access and use evidence to support concrete education decisions.

On The Impact Equation, the Jacobs Foundation, IFFEd, and UBS Optimus Foundation discuss education finance from three perspectives. Listen to the episode: www.theimpactequation.org/podcast

Parents, educators and caregivers do the best they can with the knowledge available to them. This month’s What We Learn focuses on the work of making research on how children learn and grow easier to find and use, including a Fellowship to help scientists write beyond academia.

Governments in India, Pakistan and The Gambia are using evidence to shape foundational learning reforms in very different ways. On 16 Sept, Samuel Kembou will chair a WWHGE panel on what they’re learning as these approaches move through government systems.

On 11 September, Ana Cubillo, Global Program Director at the Jacobs Foundation, will join a discussion at Impact Minds 2026: “Systemic Change: Mobilize Capital to Enable Impact.” Attending? Connect with Ana to learn about our work in Colombia. #ImpactMinds2026

After the earthquake in Colombia, recovery means rebuilding schools and helping children return to learning. The Jacobs Foundation is committing CHF 5 million through CEPE to support educational continuity in affected communities.

What can philanthropy do differently to help mobilize more financing for education? Hinah Mian joins Karthik Krishnan and Martina Gaus on The Impact Equation podcast to discuss the International Finance Facility for Education’s unique model.

Good science needs good science communicators. Applications are now open for BOLD’s Science Communication Fellowship, giving early-career researchers in child learning and development the chance to build those skills. Up to 3 Fellows, 6 months of training and a CHF 5,000 stipend. 1 Sept–31 Oct

Education needs more than promising initiatives. It needs ways to help them last. Ana Cubillo, Global Program Director at the Jacobs Foundation, will join Impact Minds 2026 in Manaus to discuss co-financing mechanisms. Attending? Connect with Ana to learn about our work in Colombia.

A coalition can agree on the goal and still be pulled in too many directions. Ana Cubillo and Camilo Andrés Morales write about CEPE in Colombia, where shared intent had to become shared focus. Read their piece for CEP: cep.org/blog/what-it... #Colombia #SystemsChange

“Leadership is about creating space — not filling it.” Meet Tanja Kotz, People & Culture Manager at the Jacobs Foundation, whose work focuses on people, culture, and helping colleagues contribute to the Foundation’s mission. 🔗 jacobsfoundation.org/member/tanja... #StaffSpotlight

One year into SCALE in Ghana, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak points to a condition for lasting reform: evidence has to reach the decisions that shape children’s experience of school — from planning to teacher support and classroom practice.

🇬🇭 A government, three foundations, and ten cocoa and chocolate companies behind one nationally led education agenda. That is the model behind SCALE in Ghana. One year in, the Ghana team shares its insights on what it takes to align resources around better learning outcomes.

The Jacobs Foundation announces that Camilo Andrés Morales will conclude his tenure as Country Director for Colombia in September 2026. We are grateful to Camilo for his leadership, commitment, and contributions throughout his time at the Foundation.

What does a child's everyday life actually look like — through their own eyes? Researchers at @leuphana.bsky.social are giving children bodycams to find out, using LEVANTE measures to explore what shapes their development. Read more: levante-network.org/spotlight-on...

Spotlight on LEVANTE's Leuphana Site: Understanding socio-communicative development through children's eyes - Levante

Early life experiences crucially shape human development, particularly during the period from birth to preschool age. Perhaps one of the biggest paradoxes in developmental psychology is that there is ...

levante-network.org

The inaugural cohort of evidence intermediaries selected to test the Synthesis-Ready Evidence Repository has been announced! The insights produced by the 15 sites will help shape the decisions that matter for children's learning. 🔗 Learn more: jacobsfoundation.org/accelerating...

At the V Encuentro Red STEM Latinoamérica, Camilo Andrés Morales shared how CEPE is building evidence infrastructure across territories in Colombia, helping partners move from measurement to action.