A grant of N5.1bn has been approved by President Bola Tinubu, for 185 successful research proposals under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF) 2023 Grant Cycle.

N3.7bn was approved for the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group; N759 million, for Humanities and Social Science, while Cross Cutting received N583 million, with individual grants ranging between N8 million and over N46 million.

NRF Grant was introduced by TETFund 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.

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, in a statement, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, said the approval 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 that commenced in March 2023 with the receipt of 4,287 Concept Notes from prospective applicants.

He listed some of the approved research works under the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) thematic group to 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 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.

Acting Director, Public Affairs, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, who signed the statement on behalf of the Executive Secretary, added that the projects under Cross Cutting thematic group include; Utilisation of Scrap Tires and Plastic Wastes as aggregate Conductive Material for Renewable Energy Storage System; Development of Appropriate Technology for Production of Aluminum Alloy Sacrificial Anodes for Applications in Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry; as well as Development of an Economical Low Voltage Programmable Electroporator and Investigation of Pulse Electric Field for Wound Healing and Cancer Treatment; etc.

He also confirmed that research proposals approved under the 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.