Fourteen proposals submitted from the University of Ibadan (UI) are to be funded by Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in the 2021 National Research Fund to the tune of three hundred and forty-two million, one hundred and seventy-one thousand, seven hundred and twenty-two naira.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, Professor Oluyemisi Bamgbose, (SAN), disclosed this today on the occasion of the distribution of letters of award to the TETFUND National Research Fund Grantees.
This was contained in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, on Thursday, by Mrs Adejoke Akinpelu, Directorate of Public Communication, Office of the Vice Chancellor of the university.
Professor Bamgbose lauded TETFUND for filling the research gap in Nigeria. She noted 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.
According to Bamgbose, this is an anomaly as both should go hand in hand. She noted that a small proportion of academic staff engage in research due to a lack of access to local research funding.
She disclosed that UI Management is doing all possible to make the University a research intensive institution.
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 ensure that they use their grants to support early career researchers so that there will be a generation of researchers to pass the baton to. This, she said, is the essence of mentoring.
The professor assured that under the present administration, UI will continue to maintain her rightful position in the comity of Higher Education institutions globally and sustain her leadership role in Nigeria and the West African sub region, while contributing to societal development.
She stated that the administration will deploy more resources to Research Administration so that UI will continue to soar higher.