The Federal Government has opened a new opportunity for Nigerian students and researchers to turn outstanding academic work into national recognition, with a total of N365 million set aside for the 2026 Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize.
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The initiative, announced by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, is designed to reward exceptional research and encourage universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education to focus more strongly on innovation and solutions to national challenges.
Under the prize structure, the best undergraduate research project will receive N35 million, while the top Master’s research will attract N50 million. The overall doctoral winner will receive N100 million.
Another N180 million has been allocated to 15 Thematic Excellence Prizes, with each winner receiving N12 million.
The awards cover six major areas considered important to national development. They are Science, Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Agriculture, Law and Teaching Innovation.
The programme will also feature the Dr Stella Adadevoh Prize for Medicine and Medical Innovation, established in honour of the late physician whose courageous actions during Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak became a defining moment in the country’s public health history.
The competition is open to students and researchers in accredited tertiary institutions across the country.
However, students cannot enter individually. Their institutions must select and submit eligible projects through formally constituted Institution Laureate Selection Committees.
Eligible works include undergraduate projects, Master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, as well as recognised equivalents from other tertiary institutions.
Research must demonstrate originality, integrity and potential commercial, industrial or developmental impact.
Before a work can be considered, it must be deposited in the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank and assigned a National Document Number.
The selection process will take place in three stages, beginning at the institutional level before moving to regional and national committees.
The deadline for institutional submissions is August 31, 2026.
The Federal Government said the initiative is intended to change the perception of tertiary institutions from places primarily associated with certificate acquisition to centres of research, enterprise, innovation and problem-solving.
For Nigerian students, the prize creates a powerful incentive to look beyond academic grades and develop projects capable of addressing real problems.
A final-year project that solves a practical challenge could now become more than a graduation requirement. It could become a nationally recognised innovation and potentially earn its creator millions of naira.
The new prize therefore places research at the centre of Nigeria’s higher education ambitions and challenges students to turn knowledge into solutions that can make a measurable difference.
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