The Federal Government has approved the allocation of N5.1 billion for research proposals in the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund 2023 Grant Cycle.
Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education, approved this funding based on recommendations from the TETFund National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee.
Out of the total, N3,784,635,923.00 goes to the Science, Engineering, Technology, and Innovation (SETI) thematic group, N759,875,400.00 for Humanities and Social Science (HSS), and N583,669,300.63 for Cross Cutting (CC).
The approval covers 185 research proposals, with individual grants ranging from N8 million to over N46 million.
Acting Director of Public Affairs, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, disclosed this in a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday.
“Some of the approved research works under the Science, Engineering, Technology, and Innovation (SETI) thematic group include the 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 haplotype maize lines for improved maize yield and tolerance to armyworms (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 further mentioned that projects within the Cross-Cutting thematic group encompass the use of scrap tyres and plastic waste as aggregate conductive material for renewable energy storage systems.
Additionally, initiatives involve developing technology for aluminium alloy sacrificial anodes in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and creating an economical low-voltage programmable electroporator, along with exploring pulse electric field applications for wound healing and cancer treatment.
Under the Humanities and Social Science category, approved projects include Digital Financial Inclusion, Rural Households’ Consumption Structure, and Well-being in Nigeria.
Other endeavours focus on enhancing library resource accessibility for vision-impaired students in the e-learning environment of Nigerian universities and addressing post-traumatic stress disorder among frontline Nigerian Army personnel through stress inoculation therapy, among various 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, 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.
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