FG Approves N5.1bn TETFund For Research Grants

The sum of N5,128,180,623.63 has been approved by President Bola Tinubu for the funding of 185 successful research proposals under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF) 2023 grant cycle.

This was made known in a statement by the Acting Director, Public Affairs, TETFund, Mr. Abdulmumin Oniyangi, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Oniyangi said the money was in continuation of efforts aimed at boosting Research and Development for economic and technological development in the country.

He said the approval which was conveyed by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman followed the report of the TETFund National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC) which 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.

The breakdown of the approval indicated that the sum of N3,784,635,923.00 was approved for the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group; 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.

Under the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group, some of the approved research works include the 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); development of an intelligent multi-chamber evaporative cooling preservative system for post-harvest storage of selected fruits in Nigeria and development of electric vehicle with special tracking features, among others.

Oniyangi further noted that the projects under the cutting thematic group include the utilisation of scrap tires and plastic wastes as aggregate conductive material for renewable energy storage systems; development of appropriate technology for the production of aluminium alloy sacrificial anodes for applications in Nigeria’s oil and gas Industry, as well as the development of an economical low voltage programmable electroporator and investigation of pulse electric field for wound-healing and cancer treatment; among others.

He said those approved under humanities and social science were 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 an e-learning environment in Nigerian universities and mitigating post-traumatic stress disorder among frontline Nigerian army personnel using stress inoculation therapy; and others.

“The National Research Fund (NRF) grant was introduced by TETFund to encourage cutting-edge research which explores 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.

“The intervention received additional impetus under the Renewed Hope Agenda as a veritable tool to grow the economy and improve the standards of living of the Nigerian people,” he stated.