By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

A Professor of Physical and Computational Chemistry, Professor Moriam Adeoye, has called on the Federal Government to expand the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, research grant to cover private universities to boost national research output.

Delivering the 6th inaugural lecture of Fountain University, Osogbo, on Thursday, themed “Physical Chemistry: Winnowing Deep Truths From profound, Beautiful Nonsense” she stressed that the move will also promote public-private collaboration.

She further urged the federal government to support policies that link academic research with industrial needs for practical impacts.

According to her, the government should prioritise consistent investment in scientific research, especially in physical chemistry, which is vital for progress in energy, health, environment, and material science.

“In achieving this, the government should steer away from having to recognise only the government institutions and include all accredited private universities in TETFund research grants to boost national research output, promote public-private collaboration, ensure fairness, and stimulate innovation and commercialisation.

“They should also extend the private institutions the TETfund research grant to private universities if they want meaningful contributions from private universities.”

While commending the lecturer, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Ramata Kareem, corroborated the need for federal encourage academic researches with industrial innovation for the greater good of the country.

She added that the feat achieved by Professor Adeoye could spun other female lecturers in the university to brake new academic grounds.