Understanding childhood. Shaping better futures.

Families at the heart of research

Get involved

Help us understand how children learn to calm, focus and adapt.

Meet doctoral researcher Candace Donovan and hear from families who have taken part. Our sessions are relaxed and designed around your family’s needs.

Register your interest

At the Institute for the Science of Early Years and Youth (ISEY), University of East London, we investigate how everyday environments shape children’s development. Working with families, educators and partners, we turn research into practical insights for learning, wellbeing and policy.

Research at ISEY

Children’s everyday environments

How do home environments shape early development? ISEY leads a European consortium developing new ways to measure children’s surroundings and understand how early experiences differ across Europe.
Screen media and the developing brain

How do developing brains respond to fast-paced screen content? We investigate how changes in light, sound and information complexity relate to children’s attention and processing.
Noise, learning and early years

We study how nursery noise affects infants in disadvantaged communities. Funded by the Nuffield Foundation and working with the Early Years Alliance, this project explores an overlooked part of children’s early environments.

View All Projects

Consultancy & Training

We use wearable devices and machine learning to study children’s mood, attention and engagement in everyday settings. Our research explores how products and environments influence learning and interactions with family members.

For industry, we offer research and consultancy grounded in developmental science. For early years settings and schools, our neuroscience-informed training helps educators bring research into practice.

Register Now

In the Press

Daily Mail - ISEY at Queen’s Literary Festival

Read about The Queen’s Literary Festival where Prof Sam Wass spoke about The Neuroscience of Reading & Healing

Read Article
Take Action on Distraction wins Professional Book Award

Read about the winners of the 2025 Nursery World Awards

Read Article
King Charles visits our labs at UEL

Read press coverage about King Charles visiting the ISEY BabyDev lab

Read Article