NRF Advances Governance with New Board Selection Panel

The National Research Fund (NRF) has taken a significant governance step following the inauguration of a Selection Panel mandated to recruit new Board Members/Trustees, marking the transition after the completion of term of the previous Board.

The panel was officially launched on February 3 pursuant to Gazette Notice Nos. 388, 389 and 390 dated January 16, 2026, by Prof. Shaukat Abdulrazak, Principal Secretary in the State Department for Science, Research and Innovation. Selection Panels were also inaugurated for the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) and the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA), reinforcing a coordinated approach to strengthening leadership across Kenya’s science, technology and innovation ecosystem.

For the National Research Fund, the establishment of the Selection Panel comes at a critical moment, as the Fund prepares to usher in new Board leadership following the end of tenure of the outgoing Trustees. The recruitment process is expected to deliver a Board with the capacity and strategic insight required to advance NRF’s mandate of mobilizing and financing research aligned to national development priorities.

The inauguration underscores the State Department’s continued commitment to strengthening institutional governance and coordination within the STI sector, with the broader goal of ensuring that publicly funded research generates tangible socio-economic impact for Kenya.