By Ken Stanley

The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has began screening of 151 shortlisted candidates residing in the South-East for its 2025/2026 Overseas Scholarship Scheme (OSS) for MSc and Ph.D award.

Mr Uche Ikoku, the Manager, PTDF Centre for Skills and Development, Port Harcourt, disclosed this on Wednesday in the ongoing OSS screening being held at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC).

Ikoku said that the shortlisted candidates residing in the five states in the South-East, whose screening will last for three days, are Nigerians who indicated the zone as their place of residence.

He said that the ongoing screen process had been seamless and done according to PTDF mandate, adding that the candidates are assessed on their suitability and foreseeable impact of their academic research/work on the oil and gas sector.

Ikoku, Team Lead of OSS Screenig in South-East Centre, said that the panelists are professionals drawn from academia and energy sector, while their expertise and recommendations would play a crucial role in identifying deserving candidates.

He said that those being screened are from geology, engineering, management and environment sciences, “which is the fields the PTDF discovered manpower gaps in the oil and gas sector or industry.”

“The PTDF OSS scheme is on for about 25 years and over the years PDF scholarship is known for its integrity, rigorous, transparency and fairness in the award of the scholarship across the country,” he said.

Speaking, Lead Panelist of OSS in South-East, Prof. Okwudiri Anyiam, said the panel is scoring applicants’ credential, research proposals or statements of purpose, and professional memberships among others in accordance with the provided templates.

“The screening is ongoing seamlessly. The panel members have met with bright and intelligent Nigerians, and we are ensuring we pick some of the best among them and make our recommendations,” Anyiam said.

Responding, one of the screened candidates, Mr Henry Udeh, a Ph.D candidate, noted that the exercise was hitch free and the questions asked where direct and relevant to ones academic pursuit.

Udeh, whose Ph.D research proposal is “Explaining Impact of Environmental Changes on Ground Water Quality and Aquifer Vulnerability”, said that he applied after seeing the online advert for the scholarship.

Another candidate, Miss Kenechukwu Ifediora, whose Ph.D research proposal is “Machine Learning Application for Sustainable Economic Principles and Bioengineering Remediation in Waste Management within the Oil and Gas Sector, said that her work would make great impact in Nigeria.