The Federal Government has opened applications for the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize, a ₦365 million annual scheme aimed at rewarding exceptional research by students and researchers across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

The deadline for institutions to submit entries is August 31, 2026, meaning eligible students have only a short window to ensure their research is considered by their institutions’ Laureate Selection Committees.

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

According to the minister, the initiative is part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is intended to strengthen tertiary institutions as centres of research, innovation, enterprise and problem-solving rather than institutions focused only on awarding certificates.

How the ₦365m prize will be shared

The prize fund has three major Star Prizes alongside 15 thematic awards.

The Undergraduate Star Prize is worth ₦35 million, while the Master’s Star Prize carries ₦50 million and the Doctoral Star Prize is worth ₦100 million.

The remaining ₦180 million will go to 15 Thematic Excellence Prize winners, with each receiving ₦12 million.

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

At each of the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels, one national thematic laureate is selected in each of the six areas, producing 18 laureates overall.

Three laureates will receive the Star Prizes, while the other 15 will receive the ₦12 million thematic awards.

The scheme also includes the Dr Stella Adadevoh Prize, or Excellence Award, for Medicine and Medical Innovation, named after the late physician who played a key role in containing Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak.

The special award goes to the laureate whose research and conduct most strongly demonstrate integrity, national service and protection of the public good.

Who can be nominated?

The competition is open to students and researchers from all accredited tertiary institutions in Nigeria, including federal, state and private institutions.

Eligible works include undergraduate dissertations or recognised equivalents, master’s theses and doctoral theses, as well as equivalent research from polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and similar institutions.

However, the research must demonstrate strong commercial potential, industrial application or a clear developmental impact, while also meeting required standards for originality and research integrity.

Before a work can be considered, it must be deposited in the NERD system and issued a valid National Document Number (NDN).

An NDN only confirms that the work has been deposited in the system. It does not, by itself, mean the work has been entered for the National Laureate competition.

What students should do to improve their chances

Students cannot enter the competition themselves. Their institutions must nominate the works through formally constituted Institution Laureate Selection Committees.

Each institution can submit a maximum of 18 entries — six undergraduate, six master’s and six doctoral entries, or their recognised equivalents — generally with one entry per thematic area at each academic level.

Students seeking consideration should therefore focus on producing research that goes beyond meeting academic requirements.

Their work should demonstrate measurable commercial, industrial or developmental value, particularly where it offers solutions to national challenges.

They should also make sure their dissertation, project or thesis has been properly deposited with NERD and assigned an NDN before the institutional selection period closes.

Students are further advised to engage their supervisors, co-supervisors, heads of department and other academic leaders and ask that their work be presented to the Institution Laureate Selection Committee for independent assessment.

The institutional review is the first stage of the competition, making both research quality and compliance with NERD requirements important to securing a nomination.

Step-by-step: how institutions submit nominated works

After an Institution Laureate Selection Committee identifies its strongest entries, authorised committee members are required to submit them through the National Laureate portal.

Step 1: The institution must first constitute its Laureate Selection Committee and instruct its NERD Focal Officer to enrol and formally designate the appointed members on NERD. Once designated, committee members can use their existing NERD credentials to access the Laureate portal.

Step 2: After logging into the National Laureate Committee portal, select Manage Institution Entries from the top-right menu on the Laureate Dashboard.

Step 3: The system will display the dissertations, projects and theses submitted within the institution, arranged according to undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels or their recognised equivalents.

Step 4: Use the filters at the top of the page to locate the particular dissertation, project or thesis the committee wishes to enter.

Step 5: Select View once the work has been located, then carefully check the submission details to ensure that the information is accurate.

Step 6: On the View page, select View Submission Evidence to verify that all required departmental and institutional attestations have been provided.

Step 7: Select Open Authoritative Student File to inspect the exact PDF of the dissertation, project or thesis in the form in which it was originally submitted.

Step 8: If the information and documents are satisfactory, select Back to Previous Page or Back to Dashboard to return to the relevant entry.

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Step 9: Tick the oath checkbox and carefully read the declaration before proceeding. The action confirms that the committee is making the prescribed institutional declaration for the entry.

Step 10: Select Submit Entry to complete the process. The committee can then repeat the process for other eligible works.

What happens after submission?

The competition has three levels of assessment: the Institution Committee, Regional (zonal) Committee and National Committee.

The National Laureate Committee, chaired by Emeritus Professor Abubakar Sambo, is responsible for overseeing the final evaluation.

The assessment process is intended to be transparent, competitive and merit-driven, with academic excellence and research impact serving as key considerations.

Successful laureates are expected to be recognised at a National Laureate Gala later in 2026, with November previously indicated as the expected period for the event.

For students hoping to compete for the ₦365 million prize pool, the immediate priority is securing institutional consideration and ensuring that their research meets the eligibility and NERD requirements before the August 31, 2026 submission deadline.