A solemn assembly on the occasion of the 154th anniversary of the establishment of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was held today at the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of BAS. The President of the General Assembly of BAS Corr. Memb. Evelina Slavcheva greeted the scientists and guests at the celebration. “Today is an occasion for pride, as well as an occasion for taking stock and objectively assessing the state of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and science in Bulgaria as a whole,” said Corr. Memb. Slavcheva. “We have gone through difficult times in which we have survived despite the conditions in which we were forced to exist. In recent years we have enjoyed a renewed scientific infrastructure. Funding in science is much better but we are still far from meeting our strategic goals,” she also said. The President of the General Assembly of BAS added that the scientists of BAS have dedicated their lives to science and expect from the Bulgarian politicians and statesmen adequate attitude, respect and efforts in order to continue to be met with respect by the international scientific community, said Corr. Memb. Slavcheva. She expressed her gratitude to the scientists who work devotedly. “Let today be a day of reflection for the whole Bulgarian society – how and whether we should continue to develop Bulgarian science,” said in her welcome address Corr. Memb. Slavcheva.
The President of BAS Prof. Julian Revalski, Member of the Academy, delivered a festive speech which he dedicated to the founder of Bulgarian science prof. Marin Drinov. He also recalled his role in the establishment of the Bulgarian Learned Society whose successor is the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Prof. Revalski noted some of the achievements of BAS scientists for the past year. “According to the world databases, the main share of refereed scientific publications of Bulgarian scientists last year was of BAS researchers. The value of h-index is now 245, and nearly 40 percent of our publications are in the highest category of specialized journals,” said in his speech Prof. Revalski. He added that scientific results with direct application in practice are also important. “Last year 39 patents and 36 utility models were defended. We also continue to actively implement programmes to attract young scientists to the Academy. We are happy to report an upward trend in the number of PhD students, with a significant 30% increase in full-time PhD students last year,” said the President of BAS.
Prof. Peter Stoyanovich from the Institute for Historical Studies of BAS delivered an academic speech “Contemporary Patriotism in Bulgaria”.
The Awards for Journalists of BAS for 2022 were presented at the gala assembly. The Vice President of BAS Corr. Memb. Evdokiya Pasheva announced the decision of the Governing Council of BAS on the competition. In the “Electronic Media” category were awarded the team of the programme “100% awake” on BNT 1 and Milena Yaninska, host of the programme “Social Network”, NOVANEWS TV. Georgi Pashkulev, the editor-in-chief of BGNES news agency, received an award in the “Online Media” category. Yaroslava Prochaskova from the “24 hours” newspaper was awarded a Special Prize for overall long-standing coverage of the activities of BAS. For the first year, the Governing Council of BAS also awarded a prize “For correct and rich Bulgarian speech in journalism”, as a continuation of the initiative taken by BAS to protect the richness and beauty of the Bulgarian language. The winner of the award is Milena Milotinova, author and presenter of the “Brussels 1” programme, BG ON AIR.
On the occasion of the red-letter day of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, President Rumen Radev, ministers, rectors of universities, directors of state institutions and others sent congratulatory addresses.
A recording of the event can be seen on the Youtube channel of BAS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwyvQfSK_ys
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