Cambridge University has hired a ‘Lego Professor’

If you loved nothing more than spending hours building castles and forts with Lego bricks when you were younger, then a new professor role at Cambridge University well be the dream job for you.

The prestigious university has just hired its first ‘Lego Professor of Play’, who will be tasked with examining how children are encouraged to play at home and school, and how this can benefit their learning development.

Professor Paul Ramchandani has been named the first ‘Lego Professor’ by Cambridge, following widespread interest in what was dubbed ‘a dream job role’.

Ramchandani, is a leading child mental health expert for Imperial College, and has penned ground-breaking research around the treatment of severely mentally ill children.

The new role has been devised and funded by the Lego Foundation, which owns 25 per cent of the Lego business.

The philanthropic enterprise aims to make children’s lives better by educating parents, carers, governments and institutions on the importance of play - believing that it empowers children to become creative, engaged, life-long learners.

The Lego Foundation has already made a £4m endowment to Cambridge University, £2.5m of which will be used to fund the professorship.

Part of the role will involve heading up Pedal, a research centre based at the university which will work to devise and evaluate play-based teaching methods.

Prof Ramchandani and his researchers will look into how fun and games can benefit children, turning various studies into hard evidence for international and national bodies as they produce policy around children’s right to play.

Speaking of his new role, Prof Ramchandani said: “Everyone has an opinion about what role play should have in early education and there is some wonderful research, but there are also big gaps in our knowledge.

”We need the best evidence possible in order to inform the vital decisions that are made about children's education and development and I look forward to taking that work forward together with colleagues at Cambridge.“

The professor of play is expected to earn around £84,000 per year – the average salary for a Cambridge University professor.

Professor Anna Vignoles, acting head of Pedal said: “The value of play is relatively under-researched. The aim of the Pedal centre is to conduct rigorous research into the importance of play and how playful learning can be used to improve students’ outcomes.”