Prof. Dr Valya Vassileva begins her second term today as Director of the Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics (IPPG) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She has been re-elected as director of the Institute for the period 2026–2030. Prof. Vassileva has been leading the IPPG since October 2022, having previously served as deputy director and head of the “Regulation of Gene Expression” laboratory. Her research focuses on molecular biology and plant physiology, with primary interests in the regulation of gene expression, epigenetic mechanisms and the molecular basis of plant adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. She has extensive experience in coordinating and implementing national and international research projects, including under the “Horizon Europe”, “Marie Skłodowska-Curie” and COST programmes, as well as in international scientific collaboration, [...]

  The 90th birthday of Acad. Vasil Gyuzelev was marked today with the opening of the biographical exhibition “I Became a Historian by Vocation” and a discussion between the Academician and students and lecturers from the academic community of Alma mater. Acad. Vasil Gyuzelev expressed his gratitude for the respect shown towards the discipline of history and, more specifically, towards Bulgarian medieval studies. “This wonderful exhibition largely presents my life; it shows who I am – as a scholar and as a person who has visited almost all the medieval archives in Europe to study our history,” said Acad. Gyuzelev during the exhibition’s opening. “Every person’s life is a matter of destiny,” he remarked with emotion, emphasising how important a stroke of good fortune was [...]

From 12 to 14 October, the 10th joint scientific conference of the Berlin Process took place in Podgorica, Montenegro, under the theme “The Western Balkans in Europe: People – Innovation – Transformation”. It was organised by the German National Academy of Sciences “Leopoldina”, the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (MASA) and the University of Montenegro. Representing BAS at the forum was the Academy’s President, Corresponding Member Evelina Slavcheva. The main topics discussed at the conference were anticipating transformations in the higher education system, reorienting innovation and strengthening local innovation ecosystems, and the contribution of scientific councils to the modernisation of the state and European pre-accession investments. As a result of the conference, preliminary recommendations were drawn up for inclusion in the Joint Statement for [...]

  The topic “Developing innovative solutions to healthcare challenges through collaboration:  experience from the Netherlands” was presented by Alain van Gool, Professor of Personalised Healthcare at Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The lecture was delivered during the academic seminar “Current Issues in Science” which took place on 15 October in the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of BAS. Recognising contemporary challenges and building a community through multidisciplinary and international collaboration are key to making progress towards fully realising the potential of personalised medicine and achieving a tangible impact on people’s lives. The lecture outlined the approaches adopted in the Netherlands to foster a culture of collaboration between researchers and experts in the field of translational medicine aimed at finding innovative solutions to overcome challenges [...]