The Federal Government has approved the award of the sum of N4,249,626,817.69 grant for the funding of 158 research projects under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), National Research Fund (NRF) 2024 Grant Cycle, as well as establishment of innovation and entrepreneurship hubs.
The approval followed the recommendation contained in the report of the TETFund National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC) for the funding of the 158 research proposals after a rigorous screening exercise, which commenced with the receipt of 6,944 Concept Notes from various researchers.
A breakdown of the approval indicates that the sum of N2,349,951,630.43 was approved for the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group; N1,028,966,204.32 for Humanities and Social Science (HSS), while Cross Cutting (CC) received N870,708,982.94.
Beneficiary institutions with the highest number of awards include the Federal University of Technology, Minna with a total of 15 awards amounting to N400,035,708.51; Ahmadu Bello University with 13 awards totaling N359,809,744.18, and Federal University of Technology, Akure with 12 awards at N341,608,592.80.
Others are Federal University of Technology, Owerri with 11 awards at N256,350,698.80; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi with 10 awards at N273,406,318.80 and University of Ilorin with 8 awards totaling N220,538,834.12.
The approved research works include Development of Sustainable Eco-Friendly Walling System for Low Cost Housing in the Rural Communities of Nigeria; Development of hybrid cubic fertiliser using plantbased binders for efficient nutrient release and utilisation; Development of an Intelligent Aerial Robotics System for Efficient Weed and Disease Management in Maize-Cowpea Farming in Nigeria; Development of an Artificial IntelligenceEnable Internet of Medical Things for Military Physiological Monitoring and Activity Recognition System at War Zone, and Development of a Novel Intelligent Electrical Energy Management Metering among 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 has received additional impetus under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a veritable tool to grow the economy and improve the standards of living of the Nigerian people.
