Dr. Folasade Olajuyigbe, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, has been named winner of the 2017 Fulbright African Research Scholar Programme (ARSP) award for advanced research in the United States for 2017/2018 academic year.
The FUTA don will be affiliated with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Dr, Olajuyigbe was picked from a pool of 700 candidates who initially applied for the fellowship from Nigeria. 16 candidates were shortlisted for the interview from where five finalists were picked.
Olajuyigbe, whose area of research interest is Enzyme Biotechnology and Environmental Health, will focus on this area during her stint in the most widely recognised and prestigious international exchange programme in the world.
Over 155 countries worldwide, including Nigeria, participate in this programme. The Fulbright Programme is the flagship international educational exchange programme sponsored by the United States government, and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries.
Reacting to the development the vice chancellor, Professor Adebiyi Daramola, while congratulating Dr Olajuyigbe on the award said it has further solidified the image of FUTA as one of the high ranking universities in Nigeria with first rate faculty and students.
He said Olajuyigbe’s research visit would promote productive collaboration and build strong linkages for future work between Rutgers and FUTA.