The Federal Government has approved over N4,73bn for the award of 219 research grants to successful participants under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF) programme for the 2021 grant cycle.
A statement by the Acting Director, Public Affairs of TETFund, Abdulmumin Oniyangi says the approval followed the report of the TETFund National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC) which recommended the funding of the 219 research proposals after a rigorous screening exercise that commenced with the receipt of 4,810 Concept Notes from prospective applicants in November 2021.
A breakdown of the approval indicates that the sum of N3,066,156,844.61 was approved for the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group, N806,381,998.00 for Humanities and Social Science (HSS) while Cross Cutting (CC) received N864,242,509.60, with individual grants ranging from N4.5 million to over N41 million.
Some of the approved research works tailored towards enhancing national development include Molecular epidemiology of recurrent cholera outbreaks in Nigeria and pre-clinical evaluation of indigenous medicinal plants for its management.
Others are Effective High Throughput Phenotyping and Artificial Pollination for Improved Yield in Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) with Autonomous Drone and Investigating Nigerian medicinal plants as sources of lead compounds for development of chemotherapeutic interventions for uterine fibroid and Production of Cartridge made from Hydrochar for the Treatment of Textile and Tannery Wastewater in Nigeria: ″Emerging Technology for Sustainable Water Purification using Biomass Waste; all under the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group.
Projects under Cross Cutting thematic group include Design and Fabrication of Efficient Solar Energy Storage System for Electricity Generation to Rural Communities; Adaptation of Conventional Septic Tank to Bio-digester for Sustainable Energy Generation and Viable Economy for Households Use in Nigeria and Development of Polymer-soilcrete Blocks and Pozzolanic Cement Concrete for Integrated and Sustainable Mass Housing in Nigeria, amongst others.
Approved under Social Science are Development and evaluation of phytoestrogenic transdermal nanogel for the management of menopausal symptoms and associated diseases; Fabrication and Characterization of New Glass Series from Rice Husk and Bismuth-Tin Ores for Application in Radiation Shielding and Green Pathway for Barite Production towards Decarbonisation of Mining Sector in Nigeria, amongst others.
The National Research Fund (NRF) Grant was introduced 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.