The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, has approved an increase of the national research fund from 7.5 billion naira to 8.5 billion in 2021. The board also announced a total of N5 billion in special intervention to the University of Lagos, UNILAG, to be captured in the 2021 budget. Chairman, TETFund Board of Trustees, Alhaji Kashim Imam, disclosed this at a 2-day capacity building workshop for heads of beneficiary institutions and staff of TETFund centres of excellence, in Abuja. Imam who noted that UNILAG intervention was on the orders of President Mohammadu Buhari stressed the importance of research as a prerequisite for national development, adding that no nation can develop without research. The BOT Chairman further unvielled other TETfund activities for 2021 which includes adding to the list of centres of excellence. Earlier, the Executive Secretary of TETfund, Prof Suleiman Bogoro, said the centres of excellence initiative is geared towards addressing identified national development challenges, as well as strengthening the capacities of beneficiary universities to deliver high quality training and applied research. The workshop was put together to equip participants drawn from benefiting institutions and TETfund with information, knowledge and skills in administering the centres of excellence.