Varsity Trains 150 North East Academics in Winning Research Grants

About 150 academics from universities, military and paramilitary institutions across the North East zone have participated in a one-day post-2025 National Research Fund (NRF) proposal review and capacity-building workshop organised by the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi.

The participants were drawn from ATBU, Sa’adu Zungur University, Gadau and the Federal University of Kashere, Gombe, among others.

The workshop equipped the researchers with the technical knowledge and skills required to develop competitive research proposals capable of attracting funding, particularly for studies addressing pressing social and developmental challenges.

During the workshop yesterday, ATBU vice chancellor, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, expressed concern over the inability of some researchers to develop quality proposals to address contemporary challenges and attract research grants.

Presenting a paper titled “STEM Everywhere: Innovation for Sustainability,” Prof. Garba said the workshop was designed to critically assess the university’s performance during the 2025 NRF cycle and identify areas requiring improvement ahead of the 2026 funding cycle.

“The aim is to look at our performance in 2025. Where do we need to improve, and what are the things that we need to do so that our performance will also improve in 2026?” he said.

The Vice Chancellor noted that the federal government had approved N10 billion for the 2026 National Research Fund Grant Cycle through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), representing a 64 percent increase over the previous allocation.

He said the increased funding presented a major opportunity for researchers, but stressed that the higher allocation would also come with greater competition and expectations from grant-awarding organisations.

Prof. Garba urged researchers to embrace interdisciplinary collaboration, and technology-driven research in order to meet emerging standards in the research funding environment.

“The dictum is that no one knows it all, and no single discipline can address the challenges of humanity. Therefore, disciplines must come and coalesce together, look at the problem from the perspective of their respective disciplines and expertise. That way, we will be able to devise innovative solutions to whatever problems we are looking at,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor further challenged researchers to move beyond research publications and focus on studies capable of producing practical solutions to Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges.

He said, “The TETFund National Research Fund (NRF) is the most critical intervention in Nigeria’s academic landscape. Yet, for too long, research in our universities has been treated primarily as an academic exercise, a race for publications, citations and promotions, rather than a quest for national survival.”

According to him, the country continues to face challenges in areas such as technology, agriculture and healthcare despite the significant research activities taking place in Nigerian universities.

He urged researchers to ensure that their proposals were focused on real-life problems, particularly those affecting local communities.

Prof. Garba identified three key areas researchers should prioritise in preparing their proposals for the 2026 NRF cycle – addressing local problems, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and providing a clear pathway for commercialising research outcomes.

He encouraged researchers to focus on practical outcomes such as prototypes, patents and partnerships with local industries rather than limiting their work to academic publications.

Earlier, the acting director of research, innovation and development (RI&D), ATBU, Dr. Isa Mohammed, said the workshop was organised to familiarise researchers with changes in the areas of interest and priorities of research funders following the 2025 funding cycle.

He identified artificial intelligence, automation and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-aligned projects, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), as some of the emerging priorities of research funders.

“The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence is one of the priorities the funders are looking at now. In addition, automation and projects that are SDG-inclined, particularly STEM, are also important,” Dr. Mohammed said.

He explained that the workshop would enable participants to examine challenges encountered during the 2025 proposal-writing and funding process and develop strategies to overcome the bottlenecks preventing researchers from attracting more grants.

“We want to educate ourselves about these areas and make more fundable submissions so that, at the end of the day, the university can be better for it,” he added.

In a presentation titled “Understanding the NRF Evaluation Framework,” former Director of RI&D, ATBU, Prof. Fatima Sawa, identified clear research goals and targets, shared responsibilities among team members and problem-solving capacity as some of the critical factors that determine the success of a research project.

She urged researchers to pay close attention to the evaluation criteria of funding organisations and ensure that their proposals clearly demonstrate the relevance, feasibility and potential impact of their research.

The workshop, with the theme “Strengthening Research Proposal Competitiveness through Structured Peer Review and Capacity Building,” also featured the presentation of three NRF award certificates by TETFund to successful research groups from ATBU.

The three awards, according to the university, amounted to approximately N70 million, underscoring the importance of competitive and well-structured research proposals in accessing national research funding.