By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has announced the approval of N5.1 billion for the funding of 185 successful research proposals for the 2023 Grant Cycle under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF).
This was contained in a statement by TETFund and signed by the agency’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr Abdulmumin Oniyangi.
According to the statement, the approval is in continuation of the government’s efforts “aimed at boosting research and development for economic and technological development in Nigeria by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.”
Mr Oniyangi said the approval, which was granted by the Minister of Education, Mr Tahir Mamman, followed the report of the TETFund National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee, NRFS&M.
He said the committee recommended the “funding of 185 research proposals after a rigorous screening exercise that commenced in March 2023 with the receipt of 4,287 concept notes from prospective applicants.”
According to the statement, a total of N3 billion was approved for the Science, Engineering, Technology, and Innovation (SETI) thematic group; the sum of N75 million for Humanities and Social Science (HSS) while Cross Cutting (CC) received N58 million “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); Development of an Intelligent Multichamber Evaporative Cooling Preservative System for Post-Harvest Storage of Selected Fruits in Nigeria; and Development of Electric Vehicle With Special Tracking Features, among others,” a part of the statement read.
It also revealed that the projects under the Cross-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 Aluminum Alloy Sacrificial Anodes for Applications in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry; Development of an Economical Low Voltage Programmable Electroporator and Investigation of Pulse Electric Field for Wound Healing and Cancer Treatment; among 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,” TETFund added.
TETFund noted that the National Research Fund (NRF) Grant was introduced by TETFund to encourage cutting-edge research aimed at exploring research areas relevant to societal needs of Nigeria, such as power and energy, health, security, agriculture, employment, wealth creation, etc., in line with the agency’s 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,” the statement said.
