The Federal Government has opened the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize, an annual ₦365 million scheme designed to reward and elevate outstanding research from Nigeria’s universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, and colleges of education.

Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, announced the opening of the prize on Thursday, following a press briefing with the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank National Laureate team.

He said the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by repositioning tertiary institutions as centres of research, innovation, enterprise and problem-solving rather than mere certificate-producing centres.

Prize structure

The annual prize fund of ₦365 million is structured as follows:

  • Undergraduate Star Prize: ₦35 million
  • Master’s Star Prize: ₦50 million
  • Doctoral Star Prize: ₦100 million
  • 15 Thematic Excellence Prizes: ₦12 million each, totalling ₦180 million

Across six thematic areas, one national thematic laureate is selected at each of the three academic levels — undergraduate, master’s and doctoral — producing 18 laureates in total.

Three of these receive the Star Prizes, while the remaining 15 receive the thematic awards.

The six thematic areas are Science, Engineering and Technology; Medicine and Health Sciences; Arts and Social Sciences; Agriculture; Law; and Teaching Innovation.

A special Dr Stella Adadevoh Prize, or Excellence Award, for Medicine and Medical Innovation honours the late physician whose actions helped contain Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak.

It is conferred on the laureate whose work and conduct best embody integrity, national service and protection of the public good.

Who is eligible?

The prize is open to students and researchers in every accredited tertiary institution in Nigeria — federal, state or private.

Undergraduate dissertations or recognised equivalents, master’s theses and doctoral theses, or equivalents from polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and similar institutions, are eligible if they demonstrate strong commercial potential, industrial application or clear developmental impact.

Works must meet research integrity and originality standards.

Every nominated work must first be deposited in the NERD system and issued a valid National Document Number.

An NDN confirms deposit but does not automatically enter a work into the competition.

How students can position themselves to win

Students cannot submit entries directly. Only institutions, through their formally constituted Institution Laureate Selection Committees, can nominate and enter works.

Each institution may submit up to 18 entries: up to six undergraduate, six master’s and six doctoral entries, or their equivalents, drawn from the six thematic areas, generally one per theme at each level.

To maximise their chances, students should:

  • Produce exceptional work with demonstrable commercial, industrial or developmental value that addresses national challenges.
  • Ensure the dissertation, project or thesis is fully submitted to NERD and assigned a valid NDN before the institutional selection window closes.
  • Actively engage their supervisor, co-supervisor, head of department and other academic leaders. Ask them to present their work to the Institution Laureate Selection Committee for independent review.

Institutional selection is the first gateway. High-quality research and proper NERD compliance can improve the prospects of nomination.

How institutions submit entries

Once an institution’s Laureate Selection Committee has chosen its strongest works, authorised members follow the submission process on the National Laureate portal.

Step 1: Log in to the National Laureate Committee portal. This assumes the institution has constituted its Laureate Selection Committee and directed its NERD Focal Officer to enrol and formally designate the appointed members on NERD. Committee members require this designation to access the Laureate portal using their existing NERD credentials.

Step 2: On the Laureate Dashboard, click Manage Institution Entries from the top-right menu.

Step 3: The next page will display the dissertations, projects and theses submitted within the institution, grouped under the relevant academic levels: undergraduate, master’s and doctoral, or their recognised equivalents.

Step 4: Use the filters at the top of the page to search for a specific dissertation, project or thesis.

Step 5: Once the work the committee intends to enter is located, click View to review the submission details carefully and confirm that all information is correct.

Step 6: On the View page, click View Submission Evidence to confirm that all required departmental and institutional attestations have been supplied.

Step 7: Click Open Authoritative Student File to view the exact PDF of the dissertation, project or thesis as originally submitted.

Step 8: If everything is in order, click Back to Previous Page or Back to Dashboard to return to the relevant work.

Step 9: Tick the oath checkbox and read the declaration carefully before proceeding. By ticking the box, the committee is making the prescribed institutional declaration in respect of the entry.

Step 10: Click Submit Entry. This completes the submission process for that entry. The committee may then proceed to review and submit other eligible works.

Deadline for submission

The deadline for institutional entries is August 31, 2026.

What happens after institutional submission?

Entries progress through a three-tier process: Institution Committee, Regional (zonal) Committee, and National Committee.

The National Laureate Committee, chaired by Emeritus Professor Abubakar Sambo, oversees the final evaluation.

The process is designed to be transparent, competitive and merit-driven, with emphasis on academic excellence and impact.

Winners are expected to be honoured at a National Laureate Gala later in the year, previously indicated for November.