The Learning Variability Network Exchange (LEVANTE) brings together researchers from around the world aiming to capture the richness and diversity of child development and learning.
Only by conducting open-access, cutting-edge research can we enhance our knowledge on learning and developmental variability.
Delve into the science of learning variability, explore cutting-edge research, and discover practical insights to enhance learning for all.
Home » University of Zurich, Switzerland
The LEVANTE site, led by Principal Investigator Iliana Karipidis from the University of Zurich, focuses on exploring the development of language and literacy skills in children, particularly in multilingual contexts. The research aims to understand the variability in children’s learning trajectories, investigating how brain development, language environment, genetics, and learning experiences influence literacy acquisition. Karipidis and her team strive to develop and assess new tools for measuring literacy skills across diverse linguistic backgrounds, enhancing educational strategies, and identifying early indicators for children at risk of learning difficulties. Their contributions to the LEVANTE network include creating a shared framework for studying children’s learning and building an international brain imaging database.
Principal Investigator
Iliana Karipidis is an Oberassistentin at the University of Zurich and the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. Karipidis studies how the brain’s function and structure change during development and learning. Her work focuses on how brain plasticity, genetic variation, and learning experiences contribute to individual differences in the development of language and literacy skills. A key question she explores is whether early risk factors and reliable predictors can be identified to explain why children follow different developmental paths in acquiring literacy skills, with the goal of supporting children at risk for learning difficulties as early as possible.