Paris, 12 November 2026 – The Sopra Steria-Institut de France Foundation is dedicating its 2027 Grand Prize for research to the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on learning among children, teenagers and young adults. Worth €100,000, the prize will support scientific work capable of informing education specialists, policymakers and families, at a time when AI has rapidly become part of how pupils and students learn. The call for applications is open to researchers across Europe until 22 January 2027.
Why study the effects of AI on young people's learning?
Generative AI is fast becoming part of everyday life for pupils and students, from school through to university. In 2025, 63.8% of 16 to 24-year-olds in EU used a generative AI tool, according to Eurostat, and almost four in ten (39.3%) used one for their studies or training. These new uses raise concrete questions for society, for individuals and for organisations about their consequences for cognitive and social development, and for the acquisition of knowledge and skills.
To weigh up the benefits and risks of these tools, public debate needs facts. This is precisely what research in the humanities and social sciences, as well as in the 'hard' sciences, can provide, and it is what the Sopra Steria-Institut de France Foundation Grand Prize is all about. Through it, the Foundation affirms its support for research and its commitment to shaping responsible uses of AI that benefit society and whose effects are assessed rigorously and transparently.
€100,000 to advance research on AI and learning
The Grand Prize will reward research already under way that has produced significant initial results. The €100,000 award will enable researchers to pursue their investigations, deepen their fieldwork or extend their work in new directions. The scope potentially covers every stage and aspect of the learning journey, from early childhood and the acquisition of cognitive abilities and foundational knowledge through to higher education and entry into working life. Projects might, for example, examine how young people access, take ownership of and use knowledge with AI. They might also explore the effects of AI on reasoning, language, memory, critical thinking, independent thought, social interaction or creativity.
Identifying the conditions that make AI a lever for learning
Among its aims, though not exclusively, the Grand Prize seeks to support research that helps identify and clarify the factors shaping the role AI plays in how young people learn. Research could focus on teaching practices and forms of support suited to each stage of development. It could also examine the role of teachers, institutions, the family environment and trainers in supporting children and young adults. Shared under open models, the findings are intended to enrich scientific thinking, feed into public debate and inform emerging educational practice.
Who can apply?
The Grand Prize is open to researchers and doctoral students affiliated with a non-profit, public-interest research organisation based in a European country. Their work may fall within education sciences, psychology, cognitive science, sociology or any other relevant discipline in the humanities and social sciences or the so-called 'hard' sciences, including multidisciplinary approaches. Applications will be assessed on their scientific quality and the robustness of their methods. The selection will also consider the work's contribution to scientific knowledge, its potential implications and applications for education and society, and the plans for disseminating the results. Full details on how to apply are set out below
Axelle Lemaire, Executive Director in charge of Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility at Sopra Steria Group, commented: “An entire generation is now learning with AI. The shift happened very quickly, and usage has kept pace with technological developments without any hindsight on the resulting impact. Yet it is essential to understand what artificial intelligence technologies are changing in cognitive and social development. What are the consequences for memory, for learning language and reasoning, for developing critical thinking and for social interaction among the youngest? What role should schools, teachers and the media play? With this Grand Prize, we are counting on the humanities and social sciences to help guide technological choices. As part of its philanthropic work, Sopra Steria wants to help measure what AI is changing for those growing up with it.”
Sopra Steria wishes to make clear that it plays no part whatsoever, at any stage, in the process of selecting the winner of this Grand Prize, other than through the financial contribution made by way of a donation from its Foundation housed at the Institut de France. Nothing is requested in return, with the exception of the right to communicate on the organisation of the Prize and the announcement of the winning researcher. The scientific make-up of the jury will be announced by the Institut in the coming weeks.
Key takeaway
- The Sopra Steria-Institut de France Foundation is dedicating its 2027 Grand Prize for research, worth €100,000, to the effects of AI on young people's learning.
- Supported projects will study how AI influences the acquisition of knowledge and of cognitive and social skills, as well as memory, language, reasoning and critical thinking, among children, teenagers and young adults.
- The Grand Prize also aims to identify the conditions that can make AI a lever for learning, to inform policymakers as well as the practices of teachers and trainers.
- The call for applications is open until 22 January 2027 to researchers and doctoral students affiliated with a non-profit research organisation based in a European country.
