Nigerian scholar wins €2m grant in Netherlands

A Nigerian-born researcher, Peter Ngene, has won a €2m grant from the European Research Council for his project.

Ngene, an associate professor at the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, was among seven researchers from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, who won the grant.

According to a statement on the university’s website last week, the Nigerian’s work focused on the “interface-mediated fast ionic conductivity in nanocomposite solid-state electrolytes.”

His goal is to unravel the reason why the ionic conductivity of certain solids can increase or decrease by thousands of folds at their interface with other solids.

“The European Union provides these grants to support excellent scientists and scholars at the career stage where they may still be consolidating their independent research teams to pursue their most promising scientific ideas,” the university said.

Other beneficiaries of the grants from Utrecht are Jesper Nederlof, Saskia Suijkerbuik, Ylona van Dinther, Simon Scheider, Aniek Janssen, and Jarno Drost.

Speaking about the project, Ngene said, “I see much prospect in the project and the impact it could have in achieving a sustainable society.”

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