The European Union has agreed to provide 440,000 euros to support shortlisted research teams in Nigeria under the Horizon Europe Project.
A major international research grant is coming to Nigerian scholars through the initiative of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to boost the conduct of cutting-edge research that addresses the developmental challenges of the country.
Heads of TETFund’s team on the Horizon Europe programme, Mr Tope Toogun, spoke in Abuja while briefing the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sunny Echono, on the ongoing efforts to ensure Nigerian researchers’ participation in the globally renowned research project.
He expressed concerns that, despite the rich human resources in Nigeria, researchers in Nigeria had until now taken a back seat in accessing grants from the EU Horizon project.
He, however, noted that the trend is now changing for the better as a result of TETFund’s engagement with the EU and its decision to set up a team to address challenges preventing Nigerian researchers from participating in the project.
“It is embarrassing that Nigeria, with all our intellectual capital, cannot participate in Horizon. The EU works in terms of a 7-year framework; the current one is Horizon Europe; the previous framework was called Horizon 2020, and it ran from 2013 to 2020.
“Africa got about 350 projects, out of which South Africa alone cornered 146, Egypt and Morocco got between 50 and 70, and Kenya got 46; Nigeria was not on the radar. It doesn’t mean we have not been participating; we have been on the sidelines,” he said.
Toogun, who briefed Echono alongside another member of the team, Ayo Ajayi, identified the inability of Nigerian researchers to organise and prepare sufficiently for the Horizon project as one of the major impediments that prevented them from accessing the grants; hence, the decision of TETFund to set up the team to clear all the hurdles.
“We have shortlisted the initial 60 research teams from about 400 applications, and the EU Commission has committed to the provision of a facility of 440, 000 euros in technical assistance to support the development of capacity in what we come up with in this programme that TETFund has initiated.
“For the research teams we have identified, we are going to do intensive physical training programmes for them in September, and in that training, one of the key components will be on EU project management competency,” he said.
Speaking further, Toogun said his team has developed the National Contact Point (NCP) network for Nigerian researchers and uploaded it to the global portal, adding that it is a major requirement for accessing the grant.
“We have also deployed research management software; all 400 research teams will be uploaded to this platform, he added.
The TETFund’s Executive Secretary said in his response that the agency is fully committed to ensuring Nigerian researchers are competitive in the International arena, adding that the Fund is also targeting other global research bodies to attract grants for scholars in the country.
Echono, who said research and innovation remain a major way to address all the challenges in the country, said TETFund would leave no stone unturned to champion schemes that will deepen research in the country.
On the initiative on Horizon Europe, the TETFund boss said the move is to bridge the existing gap so that Nigerians can now participate actively across countries in the EU in the area of getting access to research grants.
“The move is to ensure that Nigerian researchers break this glass ceiling because it is very embarrassing when we read and see international publications that smaller African countries, like South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, and even Kenya, tend to be participating more and getting more research grants from these development partners, particularly the EU,” Echono said.
The TETFund boss said the newly developed NCP would be domesticated to ensure easy collaboration among Nigerian researchers and to have up-to-date knowledge of various research projects that are being undertaken by Nigerians.
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