Inside Nigeria’s N365 million Laureate Prize: The step-by-step guide to getting nominated

Nigeria’s Federal Government is putting N365 million behind a new national competition designed to identify and reward outstanding research by students in tertiary institutions across the country.

The Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize recognises research at undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels across six thematic areas, with individual winners eligible for prizes of up to N100 million.

But winning the prize is not as simple as submitting a thesis online.

The competition runs through a multi-stage process involving students’ institutions, regional committees, and a national judging panel, and understanding that process matters more than almost anything else if you actually want a shot at it.

At a glance

• Total annual prize pool: N365 million
• Academic levels covered: Undergraduate, Master’s, Doctoral
• Thematic areas: 6
• National thematic laureates per cycle: 18
• Highest individual prize: N100 million (Doctoral Star Prize)
• Who submits entries: Institutions, not students directly
• Key requirement: The work must be deposited in the national repository and carry a valid NDN
• 2026 cycle deadlines: institutional committees constituted by 15 August 2026; entries submitted by 31 August 2026; inaugural awards expected November 2026

The money: How N365 million gets shared

The prize architecture is built around 18 national thematic laureates, one winner in each of six thematic areas, at each of three academic levels.

Three of those 18 laureates go on to become the flagship Star Prize winners.

The six thematic areas are:

• Agriculture;
• Teaching Innovation;
• Medicine and Health Sciences;
• Science, Engineering and Technology;
• Law;
• Arts and Social Sciences.

How the money breaks down:

• Undergraduate Star Prize, the best overall undergraduate dissertation nationwide: N35 million
• Master’s Star Prize, the best overall…