Kaduna varsity issues reasearch grant on COVID-19 implication on SDGs

Kaduna State University has announced a mini research grant for a multidisciplinary research on Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its implication on implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the state.

The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Muhammad Tanko made the announcement through a call for proposal, tagged, “Vice-Chancellor Mini Research Fund”, obtained by the News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) in Kaduna on Saturday.

Tanko explained that the research fund, in collaboration with ICT University, Louisiana, USA, would provide N150,000 grant to 20 scholars to undertake the research.

He said that the theme of the research is tagged: “The fight against COVID-19 and Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Insight from Kaduna State, Nigeria.”

According to him, the grant will fund studies that generate fresh insights and improve on extant knowledge on COVID-19 and its impact on implementation of SDGs in the state.

“The focus is to investigate the science behind COVID-19, uncover its societal dynamics and its impact on social, educational, economic and environmental development in the state.

“The ultimate objective is to generate knowledge for improving the health and well-being of the people through implementation of the SDGs in the face of COVID-19.

“It is also to generate evidences through 20 multidisciplinary researches that will improve the design of services for implementation of SDGs,” he said.

He added that the move would strengthen the capacity of scholars in KASU to conduct multidisciplinary research for evidence-based policy and policy implementation aimed at improving the implementation of SDGs.

He added that the fund would also sponsor a transnational conference for theory generation and/or theory testing using Kaduna state as a case study.

He equally said that the findings from the studies would be published in academic journals of high impact in association with reputable publishers.

The vice-chancellor said that the 2020 grant was open to academic staff in KASU and scholars that are affiliated to the university to improve their research productivity.

“There is a complex, and knotty connections between COVID-19 and development, particularly, with respect to the implementation of the SDGs.

“Unfortunately, there is paucity of research on how COVID-19 can influence the implementation of SDGs vis-a-vis how groups and sub-groups in Kaduna state are working to adapt to effects of the pandemic.

“It is imperative, therefore, to generate knowledge through empirical analyses to provide answers to some nagging questions about COVID-19 and its impact on the implementation of SDGs in the state.

“Given the global impact of the pandemic, there is urgent need to uncover its effects in relation to development incentives, challenges and opportunities as it affects groups and subgroups in Kaduna state.

“Particularly its impacts on income, food security and livelihood in the state as well as information and communication programmes to the residents to enable personal and group decisions.

“Evidences generated from the research will provide a better understanding of the implications of COVID-19 for designing context, specific rapid response policies and programmes.

“It will also build capacity of policy makers, professionals, and entrepreneurs in Kaduna state to respond swiftly, efficiently, and effectively to challenges posed by COVID-19,” Tanko said.

The vice-chancellor explained that the KASU-VC Mini Research Fund was an annual research fund established in 2020 to encourage interdisciplinary, cross disciplinary and multidisciplinary research.

He said that the main objective of the fund was to ensure that KASU create and disseminate knowledge on topical issues by way of developing fresh theoretical premises and/or confirming or disconfirming extant theories.

“The findings from the research will generate knowledge and fresh insights and ideas on nagging societal challenges in the Kaduna state with the aim of promoting well-being and developmental objectives in accordance with the SDGs,” he added. (NAN)