President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved N5,128,180,623.63 for the funding of 185 successful research proposals under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF) 2023 Grant Cycle.
The approval is in continuation of efforts aimed at boosting Research and Development for economic and technological development in Nigeria.
A statement from the Fund’s Ag. Director, Public Affairs, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, said the approval was conveyed by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, following the report of the TETFund National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC).
He said: “The committee recommended the funding of the 185 research proposals after a rigorous screening exercise, which commenced in March 2023 with the receipt of 4,287 Concept Notes from prospective applicants.”
A breakdown of the approval indicates that the sum of N3,784,635,923.00 was approved for the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group, and N759,875,400.00 for Humanities and Social Science (HSS) while Cross Cutting (CC) received N583,669,300.63 with individual grants ranging between N8 million and over N46 million.
Some of the approved research works under the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group include Application of the Hydro-Biogeochemical Framework to Develop a National Rural Water Quality Assurance Plan for Sustainable Water Quality Management In Nigeria; Development and Use of Doubled Haploid Maize Lines for Improved Maize Yield and Tolerance to Armyworm (Spodoptera Frugiperda) among others.
Others approved under Humanities and Social Science are Digital Financial Inclusion, Rural Households’ Consumption Structure and Well-being in Nigeria; Equity and Inclusion: Creating Access to Library Resources for Students Living with Vision Impairment in e-Learning Environment in Nigerian Universities and Mitigating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Frontline Nigerian Army Personnel using Stress Inoculation Therapy; and others.
Meanwhile the National Research Fund (NRF) Grant was introduced by TETFund to encourage cutting-edge research which explore research areas relevant to societal needs of Nigeria such as power and energy, health, security, agriculture, employment and wealth creation etc., in line with its mandate.
