The 12th Danube Academies Conference, organised by the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, took place in Ljubljana from 18 to 20 October 2023. The focus of the event was on pollution problems and challenges arising from climate change. The conference was opened by Prof. Klaus Mainzer, President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and by Prof. Peter Štih, President of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Invited speakers were scientists from Germany, Slovenia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Belarus. They presented papers on the anthropogenic impact on water resources, biodiversity loss, heavy metal and microplastics pollution. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ina Aneva, Scientific Secretary of the “Biodiversity, Bioresources and Ecology” Division of BAS, presented [...]

  On 27.09.2023 at the “Prof. Marin Drinov" Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was held the National Symposium "Establishment of a Bulgarian Consortium on DNA Barcoding - Bulgarian Barcode of Life".  The event was organized by an Initiative Committee including seven institutions: Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics - BAS, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research - BAS, National Museum of Natural History - BAS, Faculty of Biology of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", University of Forestry, Agricultural Academy and the “Pensoft” science publishing house. The one-day symposium aimed to present the existing initiatives and organizations that apply DNA barcoding methods to study biodiversity in Bulgaria, as well as to summarize the ongoing discussions and organizational activities related to the launch of the [...]

On 16.09.2023 in the Botanical Garden of BAS was held the event "Beauty under the shade of the maple" where visitors had the opportunity to experience the beauty of plants and the mysteries of Japanese traditions. Special guests were Mr. Takayuki Shinozawa, Counssilor at the Embassy of Japan and Mr. Kento Muraki, Cultural Attaché of Japan in Bulgaria. Prof. Dr. Svetlana Nikolova, Director of the Botanical Garden welcomed the guests and presented the programme of the event, which was filled with Japanese traditions (tea ceremony, demonstration of Katori Shinto ryu, Haiku, Ikebana, calligraphy and origami) and Bulgarian folk songs. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ina Aneva, Scientific Secretary of the Biodiversity, Bioresources and Ecology division of BAS, expressed her great appreciation and gratitude to the Botanical Garden [...]

The third international conference of the EPI-CATCH scientific network "Epigenetic mechanisms of crop adaptation to climate change - CA19125", funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), is taking place from 30 May to 1 June in the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The Director of the Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics Prof. Valya Vassileva opened the forum. The main objective of the EPI-CATCH network is to establish a pan-European framework for the exchange of knowledge and skills in the field of plant epigenetics. This relatively new scientific field is devoted to the study of heritable changes in gene activity induced by biochemical modifications of the DNA molecule and associated histone proteins, without altering the nucleotide sequence [...]