The Nigerian Communications Commission, the Regulator of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria, supports amongst other things, telecommunications-based research innovations from tertiary institutions in the country that are practical, locally realisable and have clear potential of contributing to the development of the telecommunications industry.
Pursuant to this objective the Commission invites proposals from academics in tertiary institutions that have feasible research ideas, capable of replacing or enhancing foreign technologies in the telecommunications ecosystem in Nigeria. It is envisaged that the initiative will help build capacity in the tertiary institutions and promote Nigeria's contribution to the pool of technologies in use in the communications industry.
Areas of Research
- 5G Deployment.
- Innovative Clean Energy Technology
- Advanced Method of Quality of Service (QoS)/Quality of Experience Management and Test Mechanism.
- loT Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) Technology.
- Monitoring and Localization of Drones.
Please visit the following URL on the NCC website www.ncc.gov.ng/research-grant-2021 to access the topics in each of the Areas of Research as well as detailed structure of your proposal.
Requirements
Interested researchers are required to submit their proposals which must:
- Come from teaching Academics in Nigeria's tertiary institutions; and
- Have a two-page executive summary. One page will be on the research proposal which should include relevance of the research to the telecommunications industry, proposed solution to identified challenges, novelty of concept and research output (prototype) and the second page would be on the project timeline, deliverables and detailed cost schedule.
Evaluation Criteria
The criteria for the evaluation of the research submissions include the following:
- The area must fall within the specified areas of research;
- Novelty of research proposal (comprehensive literature review to bring out clearly the novelty of the research);
- Clear statement and explanation of the problem;
- Proposed solution to the problem;
- Proposed approach and methodology;
- Each project including prototype development must be concluded within 2 years;
- The project cost should not exceed a maximum of Fourteen Million Naira (₦14,000,000.00) only. (The Commission reserves the right to review this maximum amount.)
- Any academic Institution with an on-going research project with the Commission SHOULD NOT apply. Please visit the Commission's website at; www.ncc.gov.ng/technical-regulation/research;
- Clear relevance to the telecommunications industry;
- Cost reasonableness (cost of actualizing the idea including hardware and software requirements but excluding purchase of vehicles, Furniture or Internet data, foreign trips and allowances);
- Schedule of project organization;
- Coherent presentation/packaging of concept. Integration of research with education (capacity building of students via the implementation of the project in the institution);
- Allowance for researchers should not exceed 20% of cost of actually doing the research; and
Submission of Proposal
Please note the following
- You must review the detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) on the Commission's website www.ncc.gov.ng to be able to respond appropriately;
- Any proposal that is not aligned to the requirements in the detailed RFP or submitted after the deadline will be rejected automatically;
- Where the electronic and hard copy differs, the hard copy would be used as the original submission;
- Lead Researchers of the proposal may be invited for defence of their submission.
Interested researchers are invited to submit a copy of an ELECTRONIC (neatly saved inside a USB in PDF format) and two HARD copies of their research proposals on or before 18 August, 2021 to the address below:
The Executive Vice Chairman/CEO
Attention: Director, Research and Development,
Nigerian Communications Commission,
Plot 423, Aguiyi lronsi Street,
Maitama, Abuja