The low-temperature chamber supports the storage of specimens in the Herbarium of the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Studies of BAS. The state-of-the-art equipment is being used for the first time at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and is funded by the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures. The Herbarium is the richest and most representative scientific collection for the flora of Bulgaria and South-Eastern Europe. It contains about 200 000 specimens. It is registered in the international information system for the most important herbarium collections 'Index Herbariorum' with the acronym SOM. Conservation of the collection from pests - various species of insects, mainly beetles, is among the priorities of the scientists and curators of the scientific collection. With the new chamber which maintains a [...]

Medicinal plants are one of the greatest treasures of our country. The first step for the conservation and sustainable use of this wealth is well knowing it. The Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research has established an ex situ collection of medicinal and essential oil plants which is maintained and updated with new species every year. The collection includes rare and endangered species such as Mursala tea, marsh snowdrops, haberlea rhodopensis, alkanna tinctoria, elecampane, shrubby cinquefoil and others. […]

An international team of paleontologists, in which one of the lead authors is Prof. Nikolai Spassov from the National Museum of Natural History of BAS, has published new data and arguments for the dispersal of mammalian fauna and our human ancestors from Eurasia to Africa millions of years ago. Zagros Mountains in Iran on the border with Mesopotamia (photo by Prof. M. Böhme) The idea that the formation of Sahara and the Arabian Desert was once a barrier to faunal exchange between Eurasia and Africa was put forward in the 1980s. At the same time, according to another hypothesis from the late nineties, the roots of today's mammalian fauna of the African savanna are linked to the "Pikermian" savanna biome of the Late [...]

The National Museum of Natural History at BAS and the Hungarian Cultural Institute at the Embassy of Hungary in Sofia present the travelling exhibition of the Union of Hungarian Nature Photographers NaturArt “Selected from the best Hungarian nature photographs of the last 30 years”. […]

A close friendship connects our great scientist with Albert Einstein April 29 marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of Acad. Metodi Popov. The great Bulgarian biologist was born in 1881 in Shumen, and his brother was the mathematician Acad. Kiril Popov. Both are individuals with broad interests in science and the arts. They were involved in classical music since childhood, playing the cello and the violin. Acad. Metodi Popov graduated in biology at Sofia University, and later specialized in biology, comparative anatomy and parasitology in Munich with the world-famous scientist Richard Hertwig. He held a PhD from the University of Munich and worked as an assistant professor of zoology and comparative anatomy. He continued his specialization in microbiology at the Robert Koch Institute in [...]

PhD student Eva Filipova from the Forest Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is the winner of the special award for significant contribution to the development of research in Bulgaria at the National Representation of Student Councils. The award is given for the first time within the competition “Student of the Year” and is awarded for research on the wild chestnut pests which contributes to the protection of chestnut forests in Bulgaria. Eva Filipova thanked for the support of the scientists from the Forest Research Institute and the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research of BAS and wished young people to keep their enthusiasm and inspiration and to believe in science. […]