By Thelma Ekanem PhD
Covenant Applied Informatics and Communication Africa Centre of Excellence (CApIC-ACE) has awarded the sum of $12,500 innovation seed grant to five postgraduate students of Covenant University, Nigeria.
The CApIC-ACE Innovation Seed Grant was designed to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in research within the Centre of Excellence and Covenant University.
The Centre Leader Prof. Emeka Iweala while making a remark during the seed grant award ceremony at the Centre disclosed that the grant was awarded to selected students who were recommended by the CApIC-ACE Innovation Seed Grant Committee based on the review of their proposals.
He also explained that the primary objective of the CApIC-ACE Innovation Seed Grant is to provide financial support for research projects that align with the centre’s innovation and entrepreneurship goals, particularly in areas such as applied informatics and communication, Malaria Control, Breast and Prostate Cancer, Genomics, and Federated Genomics, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes in Africa.
Also, Prof. Solomon Rotimi, who is the Chair, CApIC-ACE Innovation Seed Grant Committee stated that the grant was provided to support projects that have the potential to significantly impact science and lead to product development in CApIC-ACE core areas.
Responding on behalf of the awardees, Mr. Udeme Ukpong expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the Centre for the award. He assured them that the generous support will be instrumental in accelerating the implementation of their research projects and take CApIC-ACE closer to attaining its objectives.
Mr. Ukpong added that the grant will boost the morale of researchers, providing the resources necessary to translate their work into tangible results.
Present at the ceremony were members of the CApIC-ACE seed grant committee including Prof. Olubanke Ogunlana, Dr. Samuel Sanni, Dr. Odunayo Salau, Dr. Oluwakemi Rotimi and Helen Jevwegaga.