Message from the Deputy Vice Chancellor - Research & Development
After a few months in the doldrums following the recommendation by the Presidential Visitation Panel to the University of Port Harcourt and subsequent order by the National Universities Commission and the Governing Council of the University to abrogate the Office of Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Development, the Minister of Education and the Chairman of Council wrote to the 7th Vice Chancellor, Prof Joseph A Ajienka, who had a few months of his tenure left, conveying the approval of the Visitor to reverse the abolishment of the Office. The 9th Vice Chancellor, Prof Owunari Abraham Georgewill, acting on the approval which was given six years earlier and to fulfil his vision of an entrepreneurial University, reinstated the Office.
The vision of the Vice Chancellor is a truly prosperous University of Port Harcourt that relies on innovation, technology transfer and commercialization of research outcomes by staff and students of the University. Accordingly, the mission of the Office of DVC R&D is to build an ecosystem that promotes innovation, intellectual property management, technology transfer and entrepreneurship. The office has set about changing the mindset of academics by getting them to see themselves as academic entrepreneurs. After all, innovation is the result of research, one of the primary responsibilities of all academics. If researchers set about using research to solve problems of our immediate society and by extension global problems, they can with the help of the Office of the DVC R&D benefit from these solutions when they are licensed to industry and commercialized.
Research that solves problems is usually of very high quality and expensive and so part of the tasks of this office is to reach collaboration agreements with Universities and Industry to make cutting-edge research infrastructure available to our staff and students. We are encouraging our staff and graduate students to apply for grants and coordinating efforts to attract institutional grants to our university that will improve our infrastructure. Grant offers are very competitive and one of the criteria for awarding such grants is global visibility and ranking. It is therefore part of the tasks of the Office of DVC R&D to ensure that research output is of the highest quality and published in high-impact factor journals. We will accordingly, reward those who bring international recognition to our university by their efforts in this regard, to encourage others.
The office will do everything possible to enhance the capability and capacity of our staff and students to conduct research of the highest quality, the incubation of business ideas and the facilitation of start-ups and spin-offs through our Technology Park and Innovation Hubs.
This University will realize its true potential when all researchers commit to making ours a truly entrepreneurial university by ensuring that all research is geared towards solving a problem and that intellectual property that results from such research is protected by a patent and licensed to industry for commercialization.
Professor Iyeopu M. Siminialayi
January 27, 2023.
LEADERSHIP OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT
INTRODUCTION
The University of Port Harcourt is a public university established by an Act of Parliament of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It started in 1975 as a College of the University of Lagos and became a full-fledged University in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM. We collaborate with several governmental and non-governmental organisations both locally and internationally.
The University is uniquely located between the southernmost part of the West African tropical rain forest, and the northern fringes of wetlands, swamps, rivers and mangrove forests that make up the Niger Delta and the hub of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. The University is surrounded by rural agrarian and artisanal communities that have been positively impacted by its presence in the area. The University of Port Harcourt like all public and private universities in Nigeria is accountable to the Federal Ministry of Education through the National Universities Commission (NUC) which regulates all Universities in Nigeria. The University has international accreditation of all programmes in the World Bank Africa Centres of Excellence for Oilfield Chemicals Research and Public Health and Toxicology Research. Also, the University has undergone an international quality review: gap analysis stage done by QAA Global for the rest of its programmes. The University has 1456 academic staff with close to 90% possessing a PhD or equivalent with females constituting 30.13%. It has 320 full professors with females constituting 25% of that figure.
The office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Development is saddled with the responsibility of advancing and supporting research, as it relates to the University’s researchers and external agencies and sponsors.
Under the watch of the 7th Vice Chancellor, the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Development was approved by the University’s Senate at its 128th Meeting held on September 27, 2010, with focus on research, creativity and innovation with the ultimate goal of transforming the University into an entrepreneurial University where research meets enterprise at a Technology (Research) Park to harvest the benefits of commercialization of research output for the benefit of society. At the helm of affairs, pioneering the nascent office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Development was Professor Bene Willie-Abbey whose tenure ended abruptly in early 2015 owing to the fact that the White Paper on the then Visitation Panel Report on the University rejected the Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development).
Thereafter, the Centre for Research Management and Development (CEREMAD) was established by the merger of the Office of the Chairman, Research and Development Board in the Office of the Vice Chancellor and the Centre for Research Management (CEREM) through a letter from the 8th Vice Chancellor, dated 21st August, 2015. The Centre was established to ensure effective coordination of research activities in the University. The merger of the two units expanded the scope of the Director’s work to cover all activities on Research and Development at the University. Initially established to operate “till further notice,” the Centre’s existence was endorsed by the National Universities Commission, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and the wider University community for the coordination of research and development activities in the University. Consequently, the Centre received invitations to participate in various local, national and international research and development-related meetings. With the re-emergence of the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Development, the Centre for Research Management and Development (CEREMAD) ceased to be.
Professor Iyeopu Minakiri Siminialayi stepped in as the 2nd Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Development upon his election by the Senate and appointment by the Governing Council of the University on August 18, 2021. The office under his leadership was to inject fresh impetus to the creation of an ecosystem that will promote innovation, intellectual property protection, technology transfer and entrepreneurship in keeping with the 9th Vice Chancellor’s vision to make the University of Port Harcourt a truly entrepreneurial university where research creates new knowledge that solves society’s problems, is transformed into technology that is commercializable to boost the University’s revenues, researchers incomes, create employment and assist Nigeria’s efforts at industrialization.
TASKS AND TARGETS
The office oversees the implementation of technology transfer, protects intellectual properties, fosters economic development and administers sponsored programs.
The office also ensures that the consciousness of research ethics and integrity is inculcated in the minds of the University’s teeming researchers. At the heart of its activities is supporting research innovations and implementing research outputs.
- Oversee the University’s animal care and use programmes.
- Oversee the activities of National Research Centres within the University, University-wide Research Centres, and development of innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
- Be responsible for grantsmanship training of researchers, nurturing excellence in research scholarship and creative activity across the entire university.
- Provide oversight of research activity of the faculties’ research centres, units and laboratories.
- Develop R&D strategic plan, annual research reports and magazines to market the impacts of research activities.
- Be responsible for managing research relationships with government, industry, foundations and international sponsors championing research, and supporting academics.
- Ensure Technology Park development.
- Ensure Art Village development.
- Ensure Science Centre development.
- Facilitate the Development of Central Research Laboratories (Science, Engineering, Medicine; Art Studio).
- Organise Annual Research Fair/Conferences/Innovation Week.
- Organise Art Fair.
- Secure and Monitor Professorial Chairs/Fellowships/Visiting Scholars.
- Secure placements and monitor Post-Doctoral Research.
KEY PERFORMANCES/IMPACTS
- Centres are involved with research and training in the University to ensure they function optimally and to collate, administer, manage, provide information, and coordinate research activities in the University of Port Harcourt.
The Centres/Institutes were established by the University to fulfil its mandate of teaching, research, and service. The Centres/Institutes serve as units for research and academic excellence; a focal point for collaborative scholarly activities, intellectual, innovation, and interactions with industry and research sponsors thereby enhancing the University’s competitiveness in obtaining research grants to promote research and development.
Aware that data is the goldmine that drives the global digital economy, the Vice Chancellor has approved the establishment of the Data Analytics Research Centre. The new Centre is the idea of very senior and respected members of our academic staff, including Prof Joseph A Ajienka, Prof Ethelbert Nduka, Prof Peter Kpolovie and Dr Ukoha Ojiabo. The Centre currently located at the Emerald Energy Institute will benefit the University by
- Maximizing value from data toward a data-powered future.
- Aid staff and students acquire skills, grow talents and champion data science.
- Provide access to the University’s innovation metrics.
The Objectives are Database development and management, support for research seminars and workshops, support for commissioned research, monitoring of global ranking of universities and citation data, training in software applications such as SPSS, E-View, AMOS, PLS, NVIVO etc and provision of data lab and databases.
The Centre is in partnership with the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), the National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP)
Find out more information about centres and institutes here.
PROFESSORIAL CHAIRS
In support of the University’s goals to be a university of first choice by those seeking admission and for partnership with industry, as well as a national leader in research and scholarship, the university seeks an endowment of professorial chairs that helps build research infrastructure and capability. The university also ensures that all individuals appointed as endowed chair occupants are outstanding leaders in scholarship, teaching and service. A list of Professorial Chairs, their occupants and their benefactors are accessible on our website.
In the past year, two new professorial Chairs were endowed.
They are: The Godwin Igwe Professorial Chair in Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals Engineering which is occupied by Prof Benson Evbuowan and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Professorial Endowment Chair on ICT and Telecommunications which is occupied by Professor Bourdillon Omijeh.
Engr. Prof. Godwin Joseph Ifeanyichukwu Igwe was the pioneer Director of the NLNG Centre for Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt, and a World Bank Robert McNamara Outstanding Scholar. He was the only African recipient of this worldwide competitive fellowship award in 1988-1989, to conduct research in instrumentation and maintenance of equipment in Small-and Medium-Scale Industries in Third World Countries. He is currently and for the past 2 years represented the Nigerian Academy of Engineering at the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS), served as Co-Chair of, the Oil & Gas Group, and contributed to the Chemical Section Leadership Working Group.
Prof. Benson Osa Evbuomwan is the Chair Occupant of Godwin Igwe Professorial Chair in Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Engineering. He is a Professor of Chemical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, and is currently the Director, of the Centre for Nuclear Energy Studies. Prof. Evbuomwan holds a PhD from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, he has numerous publications in peer-reviewed local and international journals.
The Objectives of the endowed Chair are:
- To Promote teaching and research in the pursuit of excellence in continuing education and consultancy services in the exploration and production of gas, refined and petrochemical products.
- Contribute to the principles of healthy local content and proper training and ensure that future petroleum exploration and production recruits are well grounded in their respective disciplines.
- Contribute to national joint venture aspirations of increasing local content in award of projects.
The Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) an Independent National Regulatory Authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The Commission is responsible for creating an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country. The Commission has strengthened collaborations with tertiary institutions in the Country for the purpose of innovations and supporting the academia to focus on research in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in advancing the impact of digital technologies.
The Commission has recently endowed a professorial chair in the University of Port Harcourt on ICT and Telecommunications. The endowed Professorial Chair award was received by the University of Port Harcourt from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on April 7 2022, at the NCC Head Office, Abuja, Nigeria. The endowment fund of twenty million naira (₦20,000,000.00) was received by the University of Port Harcourt. The duration of the chair is indefinite, but the endowment fund is for two years of research work. The chair occupant is Professor Bourdilon Omijeh.
Prof. Bourdillon O. Omijeh is the Professorial endowed chair holder of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on ICT and Telecommunications.
He is a professor of Electronic and Communication Engineering, in the Department of Electrical /Electronic Engineering, University of Port Harcourt.
Professor Omijeh is an erudite scholar with several articles published in peered reviewed National and International Journals with high impact factors. He has developed several engineering software applications and he is currently the Director, of the Centre of Information and Telecommunications Engineering (CITE).
The Objectives of the Endowed Professorial Chair are:
- To carry out a “Problem-Solving” and “Result-Oriented” Research in line with the mandate of NCC;
- To develop scientific and engineering-based solutions, models, and Software Applications, and make important recommendations that would assist NCC on technical policy-making;
- To publish or patent research breakthroughs with NCC;
- To make valuable recommendations through NCC to Mobile Network Operators.
COLLABORATIONS
In an effort to internationalize research and to make cutting-edge research facilities available to our researchers and graduate students, the University has reached collaboration agreements with:
- The University of Parma, in Parma, Italy
- The University of Babes-Bolyai, Cluj-Naporca, Romania
- Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) and
CypherCrescent Limited - HYPREP (Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project)
Prof I M Siminialayi with the Rector of the University of Parma Prof Paolo Andrei
Dr Kingsley Patrick-Iwuanyanwu with Prof Martha Marmirolli and other staff of the University of Parma
In June and October 2022, our university signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Management of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in Europe and another one with the University of Babes-Bolyai, another very old university in Cluj, Romania. The collaboration with the University of Parma will permit staff and students exchange, joint supervision of graduate research, and joint application for research grants, particularly in the life sciences and environmental studies. The agreement with UBB leans towards the Social Sciences, public policy and public health.
Uniport delegation consisting of Prof I M Siminialayi and Prof Fidelis Allen during the MOU signing ceremony with officials of the University of Babes-Bolyai in Cluj-Naporca
The University has also reached an agreement with the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nigeria Natural Liquid Gas Ltd to use the NLNG/NCDMB institutional strengthening intervention to close the huge skills/competency gaps between academia and industry. The intervention will provide a 5-faceted Engineering Centre for Innovation (ECI) building to house:
- A state-of-the-art 4th Industrial Revolution equipped laboratory, powerful enough to make the University of Port Harcourt the engineering innovation hub (digitalization hub) of Nigeria.
- An electrical power generation laboratory complemented by a thermal support system, aimed at filling the gap between academic knowledge and industry performance of our graduates.
- A refinery simulator centre that will make up for the existing modular refinery in the university that is facing operational hiccups due to lack of access to feedstock.
The intervention is also to build requisite capacity to aid technology transfer and competence to facilitate the sustainability of the project.
The goals of this intervention, essentially, are to improve the quality of graduates produced by making them industry-ready; to position UniPort as a centric hub that will deliver digital future skills competence for artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and internet of things capacity; position UniPort as the leading digitized institution in the next 3 years and the only university to offer digital literacy certification in IC3 (internet, Computing Core Certification); be the Niger Delta’s and West Africa’s first Refining, Gas and Petrochemical Institutional Simulation Hub and internationally accredited Operator Safety Certification Issuer; first ever drone pilot technology certification prep and assembly training institution in the Niger Delta, provide digital twinning remote management of oil and gas and manufacturing plant in the Federation.
We signed a memorandum of Understanding with CypherCrescent Limited, a company headed by alumni of the University of Port Harcourt to train oil industry workers who would have otherwise gone abroad under the sponsorship of PTDF. The training will be done in the University’s Energy Technology Institute that will be operated like the Institute of Petroleum Studies on the triple helix plus paradigm of Industry, academia, government and other experts; all participating in the training of graduate students.
CypherCrescent is a fast-growing African energy innovation company focused on technology development, oilfield digitalisation, integrated asset management, real time digitalisation (IoT and analytics), digital capacity development, engineering research, and enterprise IT services. Established in 2012, it has rapidly attained industry leadership in the oil & gas technology solutions sector.
The University’s Africa Centre of Excellence for Public Health and Toxicological Research has been commissioned to undertake a study on the health and social impact of hydrocarbon pollution in Ogoniland by the Federal Government’s Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP). The University is to work in collaboration with the Institute of Medical Research and Training (IMRAT) of the University of Ibadan.
It is expected that implementation of this project will attract much needed research infrastructure and improve the conditions for training of our students on Community Medicine rural posting to K-Dere in Ogoniland.
RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
The Africa Centre of Excellence in Oilfield Chemicals Research (ACE-CEFOR) of the University of Port Harcourt, is one of the beneficiaries of the World Bank grant in Nigeria. The mission of the Centre is to train both national and international postgraduate students with multi-disciplinary expertise in Engineering and Science for sustainable development in the Oil and Gas industry in Africa.
In keeping with their mandate to impact the larger university community, ACE-CEFOR has set up a research laboratory on the Emerald Energy Institute premises to benefit the life sciences and engineering. See photos here, and a list of equipment here.
Also, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs has donated some equipment to the Environmental Analysis Science Laboratory. See pictures and a list of equipment here.
DATABASES
Thanks to the World Bank Africa Centres of Excellence, the University library has a large data base of research publications and electronic resources to help researchers. These databases and how to access them are contained in the table below:
DONALD E.U. EKONG LIBRARY
E-RESOURCES ACCESS ID & PASSWORD
Please go through the library website. Some of these usernames and passwords are bound to the Uniport institutional (IP) address.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF RESEARCH PROGRESS
The University of Port Harcourt is renowned for attracting some of the best academics in the Country and beyond, whose research impact and success earn them various patents, awards, honours, and prizes. The University of Port Harcourt School of Graduate Studies is an epitome of learning and research. The commencement of graduate studies took off in the 1979/1980 academic session. However, the school of graduate studies (SGS) was formally established in October 1982 and has 12 Faculties as at January 2023 which includes the Faculty of Law. In the period under review the School of Graduate Studies graduated a number of MScs and PhDs but the details are not immediately available on account of the very long industrial action by ASUU and other unions in the University and the inability of Senate to sit to formally approve these results.
Also, within the period under review, the University of Port Harcourt first maintained its previous position in the world university ranking on the Webometrics Ranking System of 6th in 2021 to 5th in Nigeria.
INTERNATIONALIZATION OF RESEARCH
Good things they say come to those who wait, but it is also true that fortune favors the bold. That is why this timely report of some staff members who have shown courage and boldness in attracting global recognitions to the University of Port Harcourt even in the face of adversity is inevitable. Some of the staff members mostly academic scholars cutting across various Departments, Faculties and Centers in the University have beyond reasonable doubt shown capacity in maximizing available resources to aid research and publications.
As an entrepreneurial university where both cognitive and soft skills are promoted, the office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research and Development beams the searchlight on twelve of the most recently recorded global awards, scholarships, partnerships and mentions added to the growing list of research discoveries.
We begin with Professor Nenibarini Zabbey of the Department of Fisheries and Wild Life, Faculty of Agriculture, who was recently named the 2022 recipient of the Association of the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ruth Patrick Awards. According to the awarding body, Professor Zabbey now becomes the first African to win the prestigious ASLO Ruth Patrick Award. Professor Zabbey has fostered international ties with the University of Port Harcourt due to his unique combination of scientific skills, endurance, and academic excellence in fighting for environmental justice.
In the same vein, a Professor of Educational Statistics at the University of Port Harcourt, Peter James Kpolovie was recently named the 2022 Science/Nature/Environment Book finalist by three international bodies. The award adds to his very rich pedigree in consistently winning international awards from 2017 to 2023 for his contributions to Science, Statistics, Research, Information and Communication Technology. This globally sought-after researcher is celebrated among many things for filling major knowledge gaps in application of statistics analytical tools in education.
Worthy of note is Professor Bourdillon O. Omijeh, who continues to set the pace with his numerous local and international research breakthroughs. Going by the realities of the growing and emerging technologies and the need to seek designs as well as device systems of communication at a distance, Professor Omijeh is one whose interest has birthed the creation of several engineering software applications. Currently the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) – Professorial Chair occupant in the University of Port Harcourt, where he is also the Director, Centre for Information and Telecommunication Engineering (CITE), this award-winning Professor of Electronic and Communication Engineering, is the winner of the 2022 European Union Erasmus Project Grant for the University. The award according to the issuing body, earns him the appointment as the National Coordinator of European Union (EU)-Erasmus Project for Nigerian Tertiary Institutions in partnership with the University of Siegen, Germany.
Making waves in Molecular Genetics and Cytotaxonomy is Professor Julian Onyewuonyeoma Osuji. A co-Chair, African BioGenome Project; the Chair of Genomics for the conservation of endangered and endemic species Grand Challenge, Digital Innovation in Africa for Agri-Environment and Conservation. Professor Osuji who is a pure-bred University of Port Harcourt Alumnus, is currently Director, Regional Centre for Biotechnology and Bioresources Research & NABDA South-South Zonal CoE; Principal Investigator & Team Leader, IB4 BioNet; and NAS Fastlane Administrator for the University of Port Harcourt. Prof Osuji is the first researcher in the University to have an article published in Nature.
Although women Scientists continue to lead ground-breaking research across the world, only about 33.3 per cent gain the deserved recognition. But that is not the case of Professor Chioma Blaise Chikere who has no limits in shattering the glass ceiling. Professor Chikere has recently been made a Council Member and a senior country Ambassador, International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) Wageningen, Netherlands (2022 – 2026), alongside the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Africa from 2022 – 2024. Blaise-Chikere is a professor in the Department of Microbiology, and the Director of the Entrepreneurial Centre at the University of Port Harcourt.
Meanwhile, as the world hurtles towards a future threatened by climate change and resource scarcity, the global scientific community has chosen to recognize and promote women scientists’ achievements which is the reason why yet another amazon and a 2022 John Maddox Prize winner, Dr. Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi makes it to the list of women in science for her passion in Science Communication, monitoring and understanding the quality of soil, climate change, science diplomacy and evidence-informed policymaking. A dedication that has so far earned her global acclaim and international research grants from organizations like the BW Offshore, UNESCO, Association of Commonwealth Universities, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Royal Society of Chemistry, British University in Egypt, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission UK and many more. She reserves the spotlight as first African to ever clinch the John Maddox Prize.
On her part, famous for her design and fabrication of Nigeria’s first hydrate flow loop, Dr. Toyin Olabisi Odutola is another force to reckon with as she never settles for residue. She has shown resilience in her knowledge in Flow Assurance at the Center for Hydrate Research at the Colorado School of Mines, USA and currently boasts of two patents, published monograph and several papers in reputable peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Odutola is currently a Senior lecturer at the Department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering and Assistant Director at Emerald Energy Institute, a recipient of various internationally funded scholarships like the World Bank Institute (WBI), Nelson Mandela Institute (NMI), and the 2020 visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a fellow of the MIT Empowering the Teachers Programme (MIT-ETT), all in the United States of America.
For his recent 2022 research breakthrough in Ecology, awarded by the Ecological Society of America, Dr Aroloye Ofo Numbere, puts the University of Port Harcourt on the scheme of things as an eco-friendly University. Currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Animal and Environmental Biology at the University of Port Harcourt where he has a thriving career in teaching and research on waste management, environmental impact assessment, biotechnology, ecology, and biology courses. This fellow has served and maintains affiliations with several professional organizations and is certified in university teaching skills by Saint Louis University, and as an Oracle professional by Oracle University.
On global contributions to Petroleum & Gas Engineering, Dr Amieibibama Joseph stands out as winner of the prestigious SPE International Presidential Outstanding Award, Houston, Texas 2022, making him an envy of the global community. It is no doubt that his professional expertise is part of the many reasons he continues to secure a space and serving in different capacities at the Society of Petroleum Engineers both nationally and internationally. He is a member of the SPE International Production & Operations Award Committee, Dallas, Texas USA.
Another researcher worthy of mention is Dr. Ogheneruona Ruona Diemuodeke whose area of interest is renewable and zero/low-carbon energy technology, deep decarbonization and environmental sustainability, with major outputs in clean cooking/cooling, low-grade energy conversion systems and carbon capture technology. Dr. Diemuodeke who is currently working on Nigeria’s deep-decarbonization pathways under the Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment and funded by the French Development Agency, this prodigious Associate Professor of Energy and Thermofluids in the Department of Mechanical Engineering a beneficiary of numerous internationally funded research grants on energy access and productive uses in rural communities and is co-author of a paper published in Nature Energy.
The ability to describe the world through an honest and unfiltered lens remains the motive of creative writers like Dr. Obari Gomba with the Faculty of Humanities. Zealous, courageous and unshaking, Dr. Gomba has bagged numerous awards and recently got appointed as member of the AFREXTRACT Project of the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and the European Research Council from 2022 to 2027. This honorary fellow in writing of the University of Iowa (USA), the TORCH Global South Visiting Professor and Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford (UK), is no doubt a distinguished writer. A two-time recipient of the Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize award, winner AWA Prize for African Poetry (2022), Rivers ANA Distinguished Writer Award (2016), this literary enthusiast has shown tenacity in the face of adversity.
For Dr. Charles Ezekoye volunteering in rendering selfless services to humanity through numerous awareness campaigns like the breast cancer community Development Service and Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention is definitely the fastest way to reach out to the teeming global population. This Ph.D holder in the Department of Microbiology, Dr, Ezekoye, is a prolific author with an outstanding intellectual character and an award winner at the 2018 15th Gathering of the African Initiative Group (AIG) by the American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
RESEARCH OUTPUT BY RESEARCHERS AFFILIATED TO
THE UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT
The publications in referred journals of academics affiliated with the University of Port Harcourt are as published on our website and include 1,113 Publications in 2021 and 947 publications in 2022.
Google Scholar citations of Uniport researchers can be found here.
CONFERENCES HOSTED BY THE UNIVERSITY
Locally organized conferences are held on a regular basis. In addition, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) provides access to a wide range of resources to facilitate intra and international conferences geared towards the achievement of research ambitions. The number of conferences conducted in the University in 2021 and 2022 is available here.
PATENTS AND GRANTS
Number of patents and copyrights filed by the University. Please follow the links for awards and patents here, and grants won here.
POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
The University employs post-doc fellows in the Institute of Petroleum Studies and by the Aret Adams Chair of Petroleum Engineering. In addition, in the past year we placed 2 post-doc fellows at the Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA and another 8 in several institutions in Brazil through the Fara/TETFUND partnership.
GRADUATE STUDIES
Although the School of Graduate Studies commenced graduate studies in the 1979/1980 academic session, it was formally established in October 1982. Graduate studies take place in the Faculties of Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, Education, Engineering, Management Sciences, Agriculture, Law, the College of Health Sciences and the Research Centres and Institutes.
In the 2020/2021 session, the School of Graduate Studies produced 367 Postgraduate Diplomas, 999 MScs and 232 PhDs, total of 1,598 Postgraduates. In the 2021/2022 session, it produced 399 PGDs, 886 MScs and 227 PhDs, a total of 1,515 postgraduates.
DEVELOPMENT FEATURE
The University of Port Harcourt welcomes well-meaning personalities ready to contribute their quota to quality education either through research funding, promoting already published works, awarding scholarships to students and even improving, reconstructing and or constructing projects within the university.
In the year under review, two philanthropists, Richard Nyong and Sir Daniel Chukwudozie awarded scholarships to about 230 indigents and best second year students of the University of Port Harcourt. The recipients drawn across the various Faculties and College, were awarded the scholarship based on merit using their first-year cumulative grade point average (CGPA).
Richard Nyong, is a graduate of Economics from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria with a Doctorate in real estate from the European American University in Ghana and a DSc (honoris causa) from the University of Port Harcourt. Nyong boasts of over a decade’s experience in the African Real Estate industry beginning from consulting and advisory to land sales, to finally property development sales, and management under Lekki Gardens Estate Limited, a brand he established in 2011 which he plans to take public within the next few years.
In 2022, two hundred (200) indigent and best second year students of the University of Port Harcourt smiled to the banks as they benefitted from the magnanimity of Richard Nyong.
The second benefactor, Sir Daniel Chukwudozie also referred to as DOZZY awarded scholarships to thirty (30) students using the same evaluation scale as the Richard Nyong scholarship.
Sir Daniel Chukwudozie, Founder and Group Managing Director of Dozzy Groups with over 4 decades of vast entrepreneurial experience, holds a BSc in Business Administration, an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Science from the University of Calabar, Cross River State and a Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from the University of Port Harcourt.
Sir Chukwudozie, though started off as an apprentice has shown tenacity in his ability to propel his visionary quest (Dozzy Group), into what today constitutes a well-integrated indigenous conglomerate with strong interest in manufacturing, Oil and gas, Real Estate, Logistics, Hospitality and commerce amongst others.
CHALLENGES
We have noticed that the most cited papers from our research community are the result of collaborative efforts that have enabled quality research. On account of the pressures induced by “publish or perish” and the need by graduate students to meet deadlines for project defence, our researchers continue to patronize predator journals. Unfortunately, most ranking bodies judge research output from universities by using papers found in indexing bodies such as SCOPUS.
We need to get our research community to see research as an enterprise and themselves as academic entrepreneurs. Their efforts should be aimed at solving a problem such that they and our immediate community are rewarded by the outcome of such research. I acknowledge that such quality research is difficult if not impossible without adequate funding and that is why we are advocating that every PhD student should apply for a grant. Researchers the world over are judged by how many grants they are able to attract. We need to imbibe this culture to grow the fortunes of our university.
The future is bright, especially, as there is a great promise of our university being able to make available and harness cutting-edge technology to make innovative research possible in the very near future, and to enrich education and learning.
CONCLUSION
As Dr Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University, stated in his keynote address at the Spring 2022 Conference tagged the evolving role of universities in the American innovation ecosystem, “universities must step forward in becoming more accountable for the economic success of their regions as well as the country.” He suggested that one way of doing this is to find new points of alignment and cooperation with government, industry and other kinds of organisations – domestic and international. While we are glad to report that we have made some progress in this regard with our recent partnerships with both industry and government agencies, “we must become more adept at breakout thinking such as how to launch new research endeavours that are beyond the traditional scope of government support,” as Dr Michael Crow recommended.
As a university, we must increase the number of people who are engaged in collaboration and encourage curiosity-driven or problem solving research and incentivize outcomes-oriented quality research.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank the Vice Chancellor, Prof Owunari Abraham Georgewill for his support and approval of this report. We are also grateful to the Principal Officers of the University, all the Heads of Academic Units and particularly our researchers who, despite the difficult research environment have continued to produce excellent work. Prof JA Ajienka, we are grateful to you for your abiding encouragement, counsel and support. We thank all our benefactors, without whom our work will have been that much harder.
We also use this medium to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our dedicated, talented and resilient members of staff in the office of Research and Development who devoted their time, energy, personal data and call credits to the cause of this collation. We appreciate the Centre and Institute workforce as well as our students, all of whose high level of performance summed up to this annual report. Worthy of mention is Miss Jennifer Emejuru, a co-opted member of the team who is a staff in the office of the Information, Publications and Public Relations (IPPR) Unit. Miss Jennifer has selflessly dedicated her time and journalistic expertise to drive this project professionally.
TEAM
- Oteba M. Kingsley (R&D)
- Osemeke, Peter C. (R&D)
- Iro, Williams Okwara (R&D)
- Emesiobi Vivian C. (R&D)
- Young-Arney, Anmut (R&D)
- Lucky, Onisomise (R&D)
- Monday, Ine Grace (R&D)
- Otubu, Osaretin Paul (R&D)
- Emejuru, Jennifer (IPPR)
- Nwike, Simeon (R&D)
- Charles Nzugbo (CEBAS)
- Akah, Matilda (R&D)
- Great, Jeremiah (R&D)
- Boma Uche (Swimcom)