International funderBased in Switzerland

Jacobs Foundation

Zürich, SwitzerlandWebsite

About Jacobs Foundation

The Jacobs Foundation is a research-driven education funder focused on helping children thrive through evidence-based improvements to learning and development. It primarily backs high-quality research, fellowships, awards, and country partnerships that translate child-development science into education policy and practice. The foundation also supports education enterprises and impact-linked financing in regions like West Africa and MENA when they are clearly tied to measurable learning outcomes.

Focus Areas

Child Learning and Development ResearchEvidence-Based Education PolicyEarly Childhood DevelopmentInterdisciplinary Educational ScienceEducation System Reform and Country PartnershipsImpact-Linked Education Enterprises

Giving Approach

Mostly invite-only and programmatic, with a mix of research fellowships, prizes, country partnerships, and catalytic capital vehicles. Grant sizes range from awards around CHF 100,000 to project funding up to about USD 1 million for selected research networks; many opportunities are not open to unsolicited proposals.

How to approach this funder

Watch the foundation’s program pages for open calls such as LEVANTE, but expect many opportunities to be invite-only or partnership-based. Strong applicants will show rigorous evidence methods, clear links to child learning outcomes, and a path to translation into policy, systems change, or scalable practice.

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Jacobs Foundation

About Jacobs Foundation

Focus Areas

Giving Approach

How to approach this funder

Want a Personalized Pitch for Jacobs Foundation?

Notable grantees:

Open Grant Opportunities

LEVANTE (Learning Variability Network Exchange) Call for Proposals

Jacobs Foundation

About Jacobs Foundation

Focus Areas

Giving Approach

How to approach this funder

Want a Personalized Pitch for Jacobs Foundation?

The Grant Brief

Notable grantees:

Open Grant Opportunities

LEVANTE (Learning Variability Network Exchange) Call for Proposals