ATBU Bauchi to access research grants through collaborations, says VC

The management of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) , Bauchi, says it would  collaborate with relevant institutions, in order to attract more research grants to enable the institution maintain its enviable status.

Prof Mohammed Abdulaziz, the vice chancellor of the university, represented by the deputy vice chancellor, administration, Prof Ibrahim Garba, stated this in Bauchi, on Monday, at the opening of a three-day step down workshop on “Grants wining proposal writing”.

He said the workshop was organized for academic staff of the institution, with a view to further educate them on how to access grants, through presentation of concept notes to the relevant agencies.

He explained that in 2021 the federal government had earmarked N8.5 billion as research grants but only those who submitted concept notes to the Tertiary Education Fund (TETfund) benefitted.

Earlier, in her remarks, Prof Fatima Saws, the University’s director of research, innovation and development, noted that the recent ratings of universities by the National Universities Commission had placed ATBU in a lower position.

She attributed the reasons for the low rating to the inability of deserving academic staff of the university to apply for the grant and the inability of the institution to attract lecturers internationally, “saying we have also failed to upload our activities in Google device”.

She added that the some of the major breakthroughs recorded by the  school ought to be online, on the Google and the u tube platforms, for global access by those who wanted to know more about the institution.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that no fewer than 170 academic staff of the university were currently attending the workshop at the school premises.