THE ₦10 BILLION CALL TETFund NRF 2026 Grant Cycle — Concept Notes Open 31st August

TETFund National Research Fund (NRF) 2026 Grant Cycle — Call for Concept Notes

Following the successful 2025 cycle, which awarded a little over ₦6.09 billion to 174 research projects, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has secured Federal Government approval of ₦10 billion for the 2026 NRF Grant Cycle — a 64% increase.

The process begins with a Concept Note submission by the Principal Investigator (PI). Only Concept Notes evaluated as fundable by the National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC) move forward to the Full Proposal stage, after which the PI and at least one team member must defend the proposal before the NRFS&MC. Approved proposals then go to TETFund's Board of Trustees for final approval and fund disbursement.

Applications span 30 prioritized thematic areas across three categories:

Humanities & Social Sciences — e.g. Citizenship & National Integration, Governance & Ethics, Gender & Social Inclusion
Science, Engineering, Technology & Innovation — e.g. Agriculture & Food Security, Health & Social Welfare, Power & Energy, ICT
Cross-Cutting — e.g. Blue Economy, Clean Energy, Entrepreneurship, National System of Innovation

Eligibility: Lecturers in Public Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria. The PI must be institution-based, with their institution serving as the Coordinating Institution and guarantor of proper fund use. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research teams are strongly encouraged.

Application: Entirely online via the NRF portal, where applicants can review the Research Brief and Application Guidelines before submitting.

For
enquiries, please contact the TETFund NRF Secretariat using the
fol lowing ema i l addr e ss e s: z ang ina s@t e tfund. g ov.ng ,
o d o j u @ t e t f u n d . g o v. n g , u k i m c i @ t e t f u n d . g o v. n g ,
ugwubs@tetfund.gov.ng

Key Dates: Portal opens 31st August 2026 | Deadline 15th October 2026 — TETFund has stated explicitly there will be no extension.

Signed by Arc. Sonny S. T. Echono, PhD, FNIA, OON — Executive Secretary, TETFund.