������Ƶ

Oluchi Chibuzor

About 150 innovative university academic projects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels will receive N20 million in the 2026 Grooming Centre University research grant.

Speaking at the opening of the call for applications in Lagos, Assistant Manager, Research and Development, CREM, Chimfurumnaya Chukwuekem, said there are no barriers of age, gender, religion, or ethnicity to the Grooming Centre University Grant Scheme.

He explained that this year’s grants would see 50 postgraduate and 100 undergraduate students receive N20m as beneficiaries of the programme.

He stated that since inception in 2019, the Grooming Centre University Grant scheme’s intervention in tertiary research has awarded prizes to 659 students.

The application, which opened on August 31, will close on October 23, 2026.

Chukwuekem said, “In addition to the designated focus areas for research proposals, the following criteria will serve as the basis for evaluating all submissions. The applicant must either be a final-year undergraduate student or a postgraduate student in a Nigerian tertiary institution whose research project covers any of such areas as financial inclusion, microfinance, rural development, social enterprise, MSMEs, technological development, digital innovation in finance, youth development, women’s empowerment or any other research that is aimed at lifting people out of poverty.

“The focus of the research study must be relevant to the Nigerian context, practical, innovative and should be capable of promoting any of the above areas of interest in the Nigerian space.”

The COO, CREM Consulting, Clifford Onyeike, said prospective research must “show a high level of originality, imaginative thought and be data-inclusive” and that the applicant must be a student of an approved Nigerian tertiary institution.

“Once selected, beneficiaries must submit their final project to the centre,” said Onyeike.