About the Foundation

The Foundation was initiated by Adriana Bus and Marinus van IJzendoorn in the course of their repeated visits to the University of Zambia at Lusaka (UNZA). Invited by the vice-chancellor of UNZA, at that time professor Robert Serpell, they were informed of the lack of sufficient opportunities for graduate education in child development, education, and family studies.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by members of the university board of both UNZA and Leiden University to cooperate in various ways. The LNF was founded to provide for financial support of prospective African students and faculty who would want to pursue advanced studies in child development and education.

The rules and regulations of the LNF forbid the use of any grant money for financing Dutch scientists’ travels or any other activities in the context of the LNF programme.

The main goal of the LNF is to support (future) African scientists of whom it can be expected that they will contribute to the further development in the fields of child and family studies, pedagogics, education and developmental psychology in their own country after finishing their education and training in and/or through European universities.

After retirement of the founders of the LNF at the University of Leiden, professors Adriana Bus and Marinus van IJzendoorn decided to continue working with African faculty and students. However, as Emeriti Professors it was impossible to integrate this work into research and teaching at the University of Leiden.

Restarting the Lolle Nauta Foundation in 2021 LNF now has become a part of the charitable activities within the Beagle Advice, Research and Development company (see www.marinusvanijzendoorn.nl), an independent research and teaching unit. LNF remains a private charity for supporting African faculty and students in developmental and educational sciences with the same goals and means used from its start more than 15 years ago.

Some of the LNF grants and other activities are subsidized by donations of individuals, by the 2004 SPINOZA Prize of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research awarded to Marinus van IJzendoorn, and by Beagle earnings.

Elsewhere a list of past and current recipients of LNF grants is presented.

Marinus van IJzendoorn, Adriana Bus

Leiden, The Netherlands,

January 2022