N365 million Laureate Prize: How to get nominated, step by step
By Aboki Forex —
Nigeria's Federal Government is spending N365 million on a new national competition for student research, with top winners getting up to N100 million. The Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize covers undergraduate, master's and doctoral research across six areas, but students cannot enter directly. Institutions nominate entries, and the process involves several stages before the first awards in November 2026.
The prize breakdown
The prize pool of N365 million will produce 18 national thematic laureates: one winner in each of six thematic areas, at each of three academic levels. Three of those 18 become Star Prize winners.
The six thematic areas are Agriculture; Teaching Innovation; Medicine and Health Sciences; Science, Engineering and Technology; Law; and Arts and Social Sciences.
The financial split is:
Undergraduate Star Prize: N35 million for the best overall undergraduate dissertation nationwide. Master's Star Prize: N50 million for the best overall master's thesis nationwide. Doctoral Star Prize: N100 million for the best overall doctoral thesis nationwide. The remaining 15 thematic laureates who do not become Star Prize winners receive N12 million each.
The Medicine and Health Sciences track is named the Dr Stella Adadevoh Excellence Award in Medicine and Medical Sciences, honouring the physician who helped contain Nigeria's 2014 Ebola outbreak by quarantining the country's first confirmed patient.
Who is eligible
The competition is open to Nigerian students enrolled in accredited tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education, military institutions and their recognised equivalents. Academic staff can also bring outstanding student work to their institution's Laureate Committee.
Three academic levels are covered: undergraduate final-year dissertations or projects, master's theses, and doctoral theses. Each institution may nominate up to 18 works per cycle, six at each academic level, with one per thematic area.
Entries are screened for research integrity. Plagiarism, fabricated data, false information or other research misconduct can disqualify a work at any stage.
The nomination process
Students do not submit directly. The programme is institution-led. Here is the step-by-step guide.
Step 1: Deposit your work in the National Student Publication Database under the NERD policy and get a valid NDN. No work can proceed without one.
Step 2: Get noticed. Having an NDN makes you eligible, but someone must actively put your work forward. Students can bring their work to the Institution-based Laureate Committee. Academic staff, supervisors, HODs and Deans are encouraged to do the same for students they rate highly.
Step 3: Institutional review. Each institution appoints a Laureate Committee through the Vice-Chancellor, Rector or Provost. The committee checks eligibility and NERD compliance, then selects one work per theme and level. Its decision is submitted under a formal declaration of accuracy with timestamp and digital signature.
Step 4: Regional evaluation. Selected entries go to a Regional Committee organised by geopolitical zone. The committee assesses originality, methodology, national relevance and quality before shortlisting the strongest entries for the national stage.
The 2026 cycle deadlines are: institutional committees constituted by 15 August 2026, entries submitted by 31 August 2026, and inaugural awards expected in November 2026.