The Federal Government has established the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize, an annual N365 million initiative to recognise and reward outstanding academic research, innovation and intellectual excellence across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, announced this while unveiling the initiative in Abuja.
Dr. Alausa said the prize is aimed at repositioning tertiary institutions as centres of research, innovation, enterprise and problem-solving, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Minister noted that Nigeria has exceptional intellectual capacity across its universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education, but said outstanding research and innovations require greater recognition and support to achieve national impact.
He explained that the prize would recognise exceptional undergraduate dissertations with commercial potential, as well as outstanding Master’s theses and Doctoral research with industrial or developmental applications.
According to him, the awards will cover six thematic areas: Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Agriculture, Law, and Teaching Innovation.
The initiative will also feature the Dr. Stella Adadevoh Prize for Medicine and Medical Innovation, in honour of the late Nigerian physician.
The Federal Government says the programme is expected to promote research commercialisation, preserve Nigeria’s intellectual output and strengthen the link between tertiary education, industry and national development.