The University of Ibadan has said no fewer than 14 proposals submitted from the institution are to be funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in the 2021 National Research Fund, to the tune of N342 million.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC), of Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, Professor Oluyemisi Bamgbose, made the disclosure, on Thursday, while distributing letters of award to the TETFUND National Research Fund Grantees.
Professor Bamgbose commended TETFUND for filling the research gap in Nigeria, noting that worldwide, not every university lecturer is a researcher as many lecturers only focus on the teaching track, while only a few combine teaching with the research track.
She described the situation as an anomaly, as both teaching and research are supposed to go hand in hand, affirming that only a small proportion of academic staff engage in research due to a lack of access to local research funding.
The DVC also disclosed that the management of UI is doing all possible to make the University a research-intensive institution, saying: “To this end, each faculty and department is expected to have an active research committee to promote research culture among members of staff.”
Professor Bamgbose appealed to senior researchers to, as the essence of mentoring, ensure that they use their grants to support early career researchers so that there would be a generation of researchers to pass the baton to.
She assured that under the present administration, UI would continue to maintain her rightful position in the comity of higher education institutions globally and sustain her leadership role in Nigeria and West Africa, while contributing to societal development.
The DVC stated that the administration would deploy more resources to Research Administration so that UI would continue to soar higher.
Dominica Nwabufo
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