The awards in the twelfth edition of the national fellowship programme “For Women in Science” were presented at a ceremony at Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski”. Three inspiring Bulgarian women scientists were honoured for their research ideas as fellows of the programme for 2022. They are Dr. Nina Kaneva-Dobrevska, lecturer in inorganic chemistry at SU “Kliment Ohridski” (for the project ” Water treatment for pharmaceutical pollution”), Dr. Katerina Takova-Sakaliyska, lecturer in biology at “Paisii Hilendarski” University of Plovdiv (for the project “Immunodiagnosis of SARS-COV-2 infection by antigen produced in tobacco products”) and Dr. Maya Zhekova, lecturer in quantum physics at SU “Kliment Ohridski” (for the project “Quasi-nondiffracting Bessel-Gaussian beams with residual topological charge”).
The President of BAS Prof. Julian Revalski, Full Member of the Academy, stressed in his speech at the ceremony that in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences the percentage of women scientists is almost equal to men. He pointed out that the support of young people is of utmost importance and defined as a very valuable help for the laureates the opportunity that the programme gives them – to have a project that they can manage themselves and that helps them to continue their scientific development.
Prof. Julian Revalski and the General Manager of L’Oreal Bulgaria Vanya Panayotova presented the award to the first winner Dr. Nina Kaneva-Dobrevska. Her research focuses on heterogeneous photocatalysis, and her teamwork with professional researchers from BAS and UCTM is essential.
The ceremony was attended by Emanuela Tomova, Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO, Vanya Panayotova, General Manager of L’Oreal Bulgaria, Albena Chavdarova, Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Doncho Barbalov, Deputy Mayor of Sofia Municipality, Milena Dimitrova, who is a staff member of Vice President Iliana Iotova and Acad. Nikolay Vitanov, Vice-Rector of Sofia University and Chairman of the jury of the competition for the seventh year.
The Women in Science Award aims to support women scientists and this year was held under the motto “The world needs science and science needs women”. The project is conducted in partnership between Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, the National Commission for UNESCO and L’Oréal Bulgaria. So far 33 scientists have been awarded under the programme.
For more information on the Women in Science programme, visit the official website www.zajenitevnaukata.bg.
photo: SU
