By Daniel Edu
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in Nigeria has received a significant boost in its efforts to secure international research grants for Nigerian scholars. The European Union (EU) has committed €440,000 to support selected research teams in Nigeria as part of the Horizon Europe Project.
Tope Toogun, who leads TETFund’s team for the Horizon Europe program, announced this development while briefing TETFund’s Executive Secretary, Sunny Echono. The initiative aims to facilitate the participation of Nigerian researchers in the globally renowned Horizon Europe research project.
Toogun expressed concern that despite Nigeria’s abundance of intellectual resources, Nigerian researchers have struggled to access grants from the EU Horizon project. He described it as embarrassing that Nigeria, with its wealth of intellectual capital, had not been able to participate effectively in Horizon Europe. He noted that while other African countries had secured numerous projects, Nigeria had largely been on the sidelines.
Toogun and his team identified one of the key obstacles as the inability of Nigerian researchers to adequately organize and prepare for the Horizon project. To address these challenges, TETFund established a dedicated team to support researchers in overcoming these hurdles.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund affirmed the agency’s commitment to ensuring that Nigerian researchers become competitive on the international stage. He also mentioned that TETFund is actively pursuing partnerships with other global research organizations to secure grants for scholars in Nigeria.
This support from the European Union is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s presence in the international research community and enhance the country’s contributions to cutting-edge research and innovation.
