Grooming Centre’s University Research Grant Reinforces Solution Driven Educational Outcomes

Oluchi Chibuzor 

A total of 125 students, comprising 21 PhD candidates, 29 postgraduates, and 75 undergraduates across universities, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions nationwide have been presented with their research grants by Grooming Centre.

This is part of the entre’s effort to reinforce solution-driven research outcomes that would lead to national development across the country from higher institutions.

Speaking at the Grooming Centre University Research Grant awards at its headquarters in Lagos recently,  Executive Director of Programmes, Mr. Alexander Enyinna, highlighted the essence of the grants to the direct beneficiaries and their families, as well as Nigerians in general.

He said that Nigeria is a large market with many business opportunities, “but only those with entrepreneurial and creative spirit could explore the opportunities to address people’s needs and create wealth. Schools must engage their students in practical and solution-driven research.”

“But we are worried that the centre didn’t get the required 150 students for sponsorship this year because many of the applications submitted at undergraduate level were not strong enough.

A member of the technical committee, Ms. ler Jonathan-Ichaver, said that the centre received 630 applications, while only 125 scaled through instead of 150 across the two categories.

According to her, parameters used in selecting successful candidates include relevance, originality, marketability, and sustainability of their research ideas.

The Head, Special Project, Mr. Egulefu Chikezie, revealed that the centre believes that many university students in the country would want to carry out research on problem-solving issues that are impactful to the economy but have no money, hence the purpose of the grants to support them.

While each of the postgraduate students received N200,000, their undergraduate counterparts received N100,000.

He noted that what concerns the centre is for research beneficiaries to create wealth with their projects and impact society and not about their schools, religion or states of origin.

Chikezie emphasised that the winning research projects, with the grants being managed by the Centre for Research in Enterprise and Action in Management (CREM), are focused on issues relevant to the Nigerian context, practical, innovative, and capable of promoting any of the critical economic areas of interest in the Nigerian space.

The annual non-refundable grant is part of the social intervention initiatives of the Centre on Education to encourage and boost evidence-based research activities and knowledge among students in tertiary institutions, in critical economic areas that include social enterprise, microfinance, inclusive finance, rural development, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), women in development, and other areas that aim at lifting people out of poverty. And this year’s edition was the seventh in the series.