Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State – Babcock University has reaffirmed its commitment to transforming research into a driver of innovation, societal impact, and economic value, with plans to prioritise commercially viable research and launch a university-wide entrepreneurship challenge.
The Associate Vice President, Research, Innovation and International Collaboration (RIIC), Professor Foluso Ojewole, made this known during a one-day RIIC workshop for the School of Law and Security Studies. She was represented by the Deputy Director of RIIC, Dr. Chinedu Anukwuru.
Professor Ojewole said the university is repositioning its research agenda to focus on projects that address real-world challenges while creating opportunities for innovation and commercialisation.
“We are looking to produce research that is both relevant and commercially viable. Without research, Babcock cannot be globally relevant,” she said.
She urged researchers in the fields of law and security studies to align their work with national priorities and institutional goals to improve their chances of attracting research funding.
According to her, researchers should consider government priorities and emerging funding opportunities when developing research proposals, noting that alignment with national and international priorities is increasingly important in securing grants.
Professor Ojewole also observed that Babcock’s review of research performance revealed the need for discipline-specific assessment, explaining that a uniform approach does not adequately reflect the unique challenges faced by different academic fields.
She noted that while science-based disciplines often enjoy greater international visibility through journal publications, fields such as law, languages, and theology require different strategies because they frequently focus on local issues or operate in highly competitive research environments.
The workshop, which centred on ethical and responsible conduct of research, featured presentations by experts on key areas of academic research. Dr. Chinedu Anukwuru spoke on Category A Papers, Category A Journals and Scopus-indexed Databases, Dr. Ayodele Kolawole discussed Responsible Conduct of Research, Ms. Mary Obadimeji delivered a session on Crafting Grant-Winning Proposals, while Dr. Tutu Habib addressed Navigating Research in the AI Era.
In a major announcement, Professor Ojewole revealed that the university will soon introduce a University-Wide Entrepreneurship Challenge aimed at encouraging innovation and enterprise among students.
The pilot phase will involve the Schools of Engineering, Law and Security Studies, and Education and Humanities.
She explained that the selected schools were deliberately chosen to encourage entrepreneurial thinking in disciplines not traditionally associated with business innovation.
“We have carefully selected some schools that will participate in that challenge. You can see the intentionality in choosing those that naturally wouldn’t be. Students should begin thinking ahead,” she said.
The initiative forms part of Babcock University’s broader strategy to strengthen innovation, expand industry collaboration, and equip students and researchers with practical skills that translate research into solutions with societal and economic impact.
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