PhD Studentship: Play as a powerful and equitable agent of change for children’s outcomes investigating the mechanisms by which Play Libraries support early child development

The Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (Centre-UB) is inviting applications for a Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner Boromi to start in October 2026.

Playful parent-child interactions and child-led exploration in the early years is fundamental to learning, and predictive of diverse positive child outcomes. Barriers such as limited access to resources and low parental confidence in supporting play disproportionately impact children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. A range of initiatives have been implemented to address this – from family-centred interventions, to resource provision. However, impacts are often distal and diffuse, making it difficult to make evidence-based judgements on which initiatives are most impactful, for whom, and why.

This project integrates an in-depth evaluation of the mechanisms-of-change and short-term outcomes of an evidence-based intervention – Boromi Play Libraries – with tests of the role of these mechanisms-of-change in children’s longer-term outcomes. The Boromi Play Library model partners with community and educational settings to provide families with free play bags for children aged 0–5 years. Bags can be taken home or accessed in-situ, and are exchanged every four months to sustain engagement.

Research questions:
• How, and for whom, does providing Play Libraries promote children’s development?
• Through which mechanisms-of-change are different child outcomes supported in the short- and long-term?
• What insights into child development can we draw from these findings?

Possible methods:
• Systematic review and/or qualitative meta-synthesis of existing research to identify relevant mechanisms-of-change.
• Delphi study to identify priority mechanisms-of-change
• Mixed-methods evaluation of Boromi play libraries, considering a) barriers/facilitators of family engagement, b) the extent to which different mechanisms-of-change are impacted by family engagement, and moderators of these effects, and c) short-term child outcomes such cognitive and language skills, and academic progress.
• Analysis of secondary longitudinal data to evaluate long-term impacts of different mechanisms-of-change on child outcomes.

We are looking for a talented PhD student with a 1st class or 2:1 degree in Psychology, Education or allied discipline. A Master’s degree in a relevant area is desirable.

The successful candidate will demonstrate some of the following:
- Excellent written and communication skills
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team, and respond to feedback
- Effective project management and problem-solving skills
- Experience with young children and their families
- Experience with quantitative data collection and analysis
- Experience with qualitative data collection and analysis
- Experience in conducting systematic reviews or Delphi studies
- An interest in early child development

To be considered for this PhD, please follow the instructions, click the 'Apply' button above. 

Application deadline: February 17 2026

Interviews are expected to take place on March 23 2026.

Centre-UB studentships cover tuition fees, a maintenance stipend, support for research training, as well as research activity support grants. Due to funding stipulations set by UKRI, we are able to recruit up to 30% of international applicants to the cohort each year. You can find further details at https://www.centre-ub.org/studentships/call-for-applicants/

Informal enquiries about the project prior to application can be directed to Dr Alexandra Hendry (a.hendry@bham.ac.uk).

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