Academics with an open imagination and “childlike mind-set” are being sought after by the University of Cambridge to fill one a crucial new role.

The Lego professor of play will lead the university’s newly established Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL), investigating how playtime helps with childhood development.

The role offers a competitive salary along with all the benefits that come with teaching at one of the world’s top ranking institutions.

Cambridge states the successful candidate will most likely be an academic who already specialises in education psychology and can “think of new ways of doing research and work across different disciplines”.

The position is to be funded by the Lego Foundation, which already has ties with PEDAL and has committed a total of £4m towards university research.

The Danish corporation works with researchers to establish the benefits of creative play within childhood learning and views play as a critical component of early childhood development.

Although Lego will have no influence over the new appointment, Bo Stjerne Thomsen, global head of research for the foundation, told The Guardian he hopes for “an academic who is playful, extremely curious, open-minded, imaginative and creative – someone who can think of new ways of doing research and work across different disciplines”.

“What we want is to get the UK government to encourage more playful learning in schools, rather than testing,” he added.

“The skills you need now as an adult are collaboration, problem- solving and coming up with ideas. In that sense, play is critical.

“You use your imagination to plan things, to predict outcomes, to understand how to solve a problem by looking at it from different perspectives.”