UNILAG Attracts 18bn research grant in 4 years – VC

By: Eniola Daramola

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe says the university attracted more than 18 billion naira in research grants during his administration.

Recall that Ogundipe’s top priority when assuming office in 2017 was research. He, therefore, expressed delight at the fact that he was able to achieve one of his goals.  

“I am very happy that I will leave the university on a sound footing, research-wise. Research is one area where this administration has achieved success. Both academic and non-teaching staff got research grants.

“At this moment, UNILAG has received over N18 billion in research grants from local and international bodies. Last week, two lecturers got research grants.

The VC further revealed that the grants which were given both locally and internationally applied to the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school.

“It is our strength and we have achieved a lot in this area. Even non-teaching staff are beneficiaries. Getting research grants is simple because of quality education and our focus on research. Nine UNILAG lecturers are currently in Brazil as a result of research grants,” he said.

Speaking on the contributions of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) to research activities in the school, Ogundipe announced that TETfund bestowed an award on the school as the best university in the South-West for judicious use of research grants. 

He also said students of the university are making waves in information and communication technology (ICT), event planning/management, and several areas.

His words, “A number of these research activities are geared towards changing society and providing solutions to some of the problems we are faced with as a nation. Research has become a major currency for all our academic staff and this was ably demonstrated by our submissions to different international organizations and to the TETfund National Research Fund (NRF).

“The university was the highest recipient of TETFund NRF 2019, as 14 members of staff received a grant of N419 million. Also in 2020, 16 of our staff received N419 million as total grant sum from the 2020 TETFund NRF. We believe that this steady growth in research activities is precipitated by the approaches we are adopting to encourage our staff to showcase their talents.”