BY ODILI CHRISTEL
The Acting Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Mr. Ahmed AminuGaladima
has urged members of the Central Selection Committee to be guided by the necessity to find solutions to present and anticipated challenges in the oil and gas industry using the products of PTDF scholarship schemes.
He noted that With 2, 839 MSc. and 839 PhD Scholars already trained under PTDF Overseas Scholarship Scheme and 862 under PTDF Local Scholarship Scheme in the past 15 years of operating as an independent fully functional agency of government, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund is taking a critical review of its operations and processes that will lead to a strategic shift in the implementation of the Overseas Scholarship Scheme while speeding up on domestication and transfer of technology.
According to the Acting Executive Secretary, the Fund has also decided to intervene in building capacity for the Renewable Energy and Gas Technology sectors, which he said are rapidly emerging as a sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel.
Furthermore, the PTDF boss disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen that the last stage in the process for the award of 2016/17 PTDF Overseas and Local scholarships in the PhD Doctoral category has been flagged off with the constitution and inauguration of a central selection committee to interview candidates who were shortlisted for the exercise.
The statement noted that atotal of 1,305 candidates applied for the 2016/2017 PTDF Overseas Scholarship for PhD studies, while 196 indicated interest in the local scholarship for PhD studies in Nigerian Universities.
“At the end of the screening exercise, 758 candidates out of the 1, 305 that applied for the PhD Overseas Scholarship were shortlisted for interview while 133 out of the 196 that applied for the Local Scholarship (PhD) were shortlisted and invited for the oral interview”.
“The subject areas for the award include Engineering and Renewable Energy, Environmental Management, Computing and Geosciences and other related oil and gas courses.
“The break down shows that 411 were shortlisted for Engineering and Renewable Energy courses, 298 for Environmental Management, 45 for computing and Geosciences and 4 in oil and Gas related fields for the overseas scholarship while for the local scholarship scheme, 68 were shortlisted for courses in Engineering and Renewable Energy, 21 for Environmental Management, 41 for Computing and Geosciences and 3 for other oil and gas related courses”.
He therefore called on members of the Central Selection Committee comprising of Professors and subject matter experts from the academia and the industry, to contribute ideas towards the success of the unfolding new directions in the implementation of the Fund’s capacity building programme.
He urged the members to be objective in carrying out their assignment in order to sustain the integrity and transparency of the process.
“Let me reiterate the importance and sensitivity of this assignment as well as the scoring criteria to be used. This is a national assignment that will have a great impact on the future of PTDF and the country in general. For the scoring, we have a template that is used to rate the applicants ranging from the quality of their research proposals to its relevance in the oil and gas industry among others”.
Speaking on behalf of members of the Central Selection Committee, Professor AbdullahiZuru, Vice Chancellor, Usman Dan Fodio University, promised that the Committee will carry out the assignment with diligence and highest sense of responsibility. He thanked the Fund for the confidence reposed in them to carry out such sensitive work of interviewing and recommending candidates for the award of PTDF scholarships.
Members of the Central Selection Committee cuts across academics and industry experts in different fields of the oil and gas industry.
They were grouped into 4 according to areas of specialization of the candidate’s proposals for the purpose of the interview.