FG opens ₦365m national laureate prize for Nigerian students, researchers

How institutions will submit entries

Once an institution’s Laureate Selection Committee has identified the research works it wants to nominate, authorised committee members will complete the submission through the National Laureate portal.

The process begins with the institution’s committee being properly constituted and its appointed members being formally designated through NERD by the institution’s NERD Focal Officer.

After receiving the necessary designation, committee members can use their existing NERD credentials to access the Laureate portal.

From the Laureate Dashboard, the committee will select the option to manage institutional entries. The system will then display eligible dissertations, projects and theses associated with the institution and organise them according to their academic levels.

Committee members can use the available search and filtering functions to locate particular research works.

Before submitting an entry, the committee is expected to examine the submission details and verify that the information supplied is accurate.

The committee must also review the evidence attached to the research and confirm that the required departmental and institutional attestations have been provided.

Another important stage involves opening the authoritative student file. This allows the committee to examine the exact PDF version of the dissertation, project or thesis that was originally submitted.

If the documentation is complete and satisfactory, the committee can proceed with the formal declaration required for submission. Members must tick the relevant oath or declaration box after carefully reviewing its contents before submitting the entry.

Once the Submit Entry option is selected, the research becomes an institutional entry in the competition.

Deadline for entries

Institutions participating in the competition have until August 31, 2026, to complete their submissions.

This deadline makes early preparation important for students whose work may be considered. Waiting until the final days could create difficulties if research documents, NERD records, attestations or institutional approvals are incomplete.

Students who believe their work deserves consideration should therefore engage their supervisors and academic departments early enough for the necessary institutional processes to take place.

The responsibility for final submission, however, rests with the institution’s authorised Laureate Selection Committee rather than individual students.

What happens after submission?

Research works that make it through the institutional stage will proceed through further levels of assessment.

The competition uses a three-stage evaluation structure involving the Institution Committee, Regional or Zonal Committee and National Committee.

The final assessment will be overseen by the National Laureate Committee, chaired by Emeritus Professor Abubakar Sambo.

The multi-level structure is intended to ensure that research is assessed beyond the institution where it was produced and that the eventual winners are selected through a competitive and merit-based process.

Academic quality will be important, but the initiative also places considerable emphasis on the practical value and impact of research.

For students, this means that a project should not merely demonstrate that they understand a subject. It should ideally show how their findings, invention, innovation or proposed solution could be useful beyond the classroom.

Research capable of addressing challenges in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, technology, education, law, industry or social development could therefore fit strongly within the objectives of the scheme, depending on the quality and relevance of the work.

The Federal Government has indicated that successful laureates will be celebrated at a National Laureate Gala later in the year, with November previously mentioned as the expected period for the event.

For Nigerian students and researchers, the initiative provides more than the possibility of winning substantial financial rewards. It also offers an opportunity to have outstanding academic work recognised at national level and potentially connect research produced in tertiary institutions with wider development and industry needs.

The central message for students is clear: a project submitted merely to earn a certificate is different from research capable of solving a real problem. Under the National Laureate Prize, the latter is what the government is seeking to recognise.