Prof. Clement Adebooye, Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), said that scholars from the institution received a total of US$12 million in research grants in the first half of 2023. The VC attributed the growth to the institution’s management’s encouragement of its workers to propose answers to global concerns.
Adebooye made this statement in response to the recent accomplishment of the University’s Director of Global Affairs and Sustainable Development Institute, Prof. John Agbonifo, and the Director of the Office of Research and Innovation Management, Prof. Olukoya Ogen, who formed a research consortium with Professor Jean-Marc Trouille of Bradford University for a research project titled “The European Union and Africa in a Multi-Crisis World.”
On Saturday, Ademola Adesoji, the UNIOSUN Public Relations Officer, announced that the project had received funding from the ERASMUS-JMO-2023-NETWORKS-HEI-NON-EU-AFRICA programme. The funding allocated for the project was $7,800,000.
The statement partly read, “Professor Agbonifo is a key facilitator of the project, while Professor Ogen is the Project Financial Signatory.
“AfriquEurope is the largest Jean Monnet network of its kind and the largest academic network in terms of its number of participating institutions and the number of countries represented across Africa and Europe. It will also provide a framework for unique cooperation between universities and think tanks on matters relevant to Africans and Europeans.
“The aim of the AfriquEurope Network is to support the EU’s effort to recalibrate its partnership with Africa, whilst advocating closer cooperation between the two continents.”
Adebooye responded to the accomplishments of the two university employees. He expressed that their numerous research initiatives had already fulfilled some of his vice-chancellor duties by attracting various funds.
“In total, UNIOSUN has raked in a total of US$12 million in 2023 alone. We are proud of our researchers. This latest grant is another milestone in our research and global visibility agenda. I believe that in the not-too-distant future, we would be among universities with the highest grants won in this part of the world,” Adebooye said.
cc: Punch Ng
