The Nigerian Government has approved the disbursement of N5.1 billion for research proposals in the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF) 2023 Grant Cycle.
This is contained in a statement by the Acting Director, Public Affairs of the Fund, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, in Abuja on Wednesday, made available to journalists.
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.
According to him, 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.
He said 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.
Also, he said N759,875,400.00 is 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).
“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,” he said.
He added that the projects under Cross Cutting thematic group include the utilization of Scrap Tires and Plastic Wastes as aggregate conductive material for renewable energy storage systems.
Others, he said, are the 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; etc.
Approved under the Humanities and Social Science, are Digital Financial Inclusion, Rural Households’ Consumption Structure and Well-being in Nigeria; Equity and Inclusion.
Others are creating access to library resources for students living with vision impairment in e-learning environments 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 said.