The federal government has directed eligible tertiary institutions to establish selection committees for the maiden National Laureate Programme, which carries an annual prize fund of N365 million.

Universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, monotechnics, military institutions and other accredited schools are expected to nominate outstanding undergraduate dissertations, master’s theses and doctoral research.

Each university may submit up to 18 entries across six thematic areas: agriculture, teaching innovation, medicine and health sciences, engineering, science and technology, and law, arts and social sciences. Equivalent submissions will be accepted from other eligible institutions.

The programme offers star prizes of N35 million for undergraduate research, N50 million for master’s research and N100 million for doctoral work. Fifteen additional thematic awards of N12 million each will also be presented.

Institutions must constitute their committees and submit membership details by August 15, 2026, while selected research entries are due by August 31. All nominated works must first be uploaded to the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank and assigned a National Document Number.