Science and technology inBulgaria is carried out in a variety of institutions, largely dominated by theBulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) and several universities.
Spending onresearch and development is low, amounting to 0.78% of GDP,[1] and the bulk of public R&D funding goes to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS).[2] Private businesses accounted for more than 73% of R&D expenditures and employed 42% of Bulgaria's 22,000 researchers in 2015.[3] The same year, Bulgaria ranked 39th out of 50 countries in theBloomberg Innovation Index, the highest score being in education (24th) and the lowest in value-added manufacturing (48th).[4] By 2020, Bulgaria ranked 42nd, but with an increase in value-added manufacturing to 33rd.[5] Bulgaria was ranked 24th in theGlobal Innovation Index in 2024.[6]
Chronic government underinvestment in research since 1990 has forced many professionals in science and engineering to leave Bulgaria.[7] Despite the lack of funding, research in chemistry,materials science andphysics remains strong.[2]
High levels of female participation in science and engineering, a legacy of the Socialist era, are characteristic for all fields of research.[8]
Three per cent of economic output is generated by theinformation and communication technologies (ICT) sector where 40,000[9] to 51,000 software engineers are employed.[10] More than a quarter of Bulgarian ICT specialists are women, the highest percentage of females in ICT in any EU country.[11] Computer science builds upon foundations laid in the Socialist era, when the country was known as a "CommunistSilicon Valley" due to its key role inCOMECON computing technology production.[12]Pravetz computers were the principal mass computer series designed and manufactured in Bulgaria at the time.
Bulgaria is also a regional leader inhigh performance computing. The Institute of Computer and Communication Systems at BAS operatesAvitohol, the most powerful supercomputer in Southeast Europe. Four smaller supercomputing clusters that do not represent true supercomputers operate in Sofia: an unnamed machine at BAS, PHYSON at Sofia University's Faculty of Physics,Madara at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at BAS, andNestum at Sofia Tech Park. AnIBM Blue Gene/P at theNational Centre for Supercomputing Applications ceased operations in 2015.[13] A new supercomputer, the Discoverer, was installed in 2021 and ranked 91st in theTOP500 in 2021.[14]
Ivan Stranski (1897–1979) developed the molecular-kinetic theory ofcrystal formation andcrystal growth. The results of his work on crystal structure and behaviour have had wide application in the areas ofphysical chemistry,metallurgy andmining.Georgi Nadjakov was among Bulgaria's top physicists, and became known for his experiments on thephotoelectric effect and most notably, the discovery ofphotoelectrets. Nadjakov's discoveries are now widely employed inphotocopier machines.
Bulgaria is an active member ofCERN and has contributed to its activities with nearly 200 scientists since its accession in 1999.[15][16] Bulgarian scientists took part in theL3 experiment of theLarge Electron–Positron Collider in the 1980s.[17]
A domesticpharmaceutical industry grew quickly after a Soviet-style planned economy was implemented in the late 1940s.Cytisine, a smoking cessation aid, andgalantamine, a drug synthesised byDimitar Paskov and used to treat cognitive impairment inAlzheimer's disease, are some of the drugs developed by Bulgarian researchers.[18][19]Generic drugs form the backbone of the industry, although innovative drugs make up 75% of the market in terms of value. There is a well-developed drug research base in hospitals along with highly qualified researchers and drug manufacturing by EU standards, but poor funding and limited experience in early stageclinical trials are a weakness.[20]Sopharma AD has been a leader in pharmaceutical research since the 1950s.
Dr. Georgi Stranski University Hospital inPleven was the first hospital to implement theDa Vinci Surgical System in the country and operates two systems.[21] Two other hospitals in Sofia,Acibadem City Clinic Tokuda Hospital and Doverie, each operate one Da Vinci system.[22] The total number of the systems in Bulgaria was 8 in 2021.[23]
Bulgaria began studying nuclear energy for power generation as early as 1956.[24] An agreement with the Soviet Union to begin construction of industrial-scale nuclear reactors was reached ten years later, in 1966.[24] Today, more than a third (34.8%)[25] of electricity in the national grid is produced bynuclear reactors at theKozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. Commercial power generation from its twoVVER-1000 units is supported by a diverse research, education and engineering capacity spread among several institutions.Sofia University and theTechnical University of Sofia train engineers at the Nuclear Engineering and Thermal and Nuclear Power departments, respectively.[26][27]
TheInstitute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE) of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is mostly focused on research and development. It is currently building the largest particle accelerator inSoutheast Europe, acyclotron that is expected to produce up to 25,000 doses forradiotherapy once completed. Equipment was delivered in 2016, but a new building for the center is yet to be constructed.[28] INRNE also owns anIRT-2000 research reactor that achieved firstcriticality in 1961, but has been shut down in 1999 and awaiting reconstruction since then.[29]
Until 1992, when the government ofFilip Dimitrov ordered an end touranium mining, Bulgaria was extracting 645 tonnes of uranium annually, and producedyellowcake. The material was shipped to the USSR for processing, and then returned to Bulgaria as fuel for the Kozloduy power plant.[30]
Bulgaria has made numerous contributions tospace exploration.[31] These include two scientific satellites,Bulgaria 1300 and Bulgaria 1300-II, more than 200 payloads and 300 experiments in Earth orbit, as well as two cosmonauts since 1971.[31] Bulgaria was the first country to growwheat and vegetablesin space with itsSvetgreenhouses on theMir space station.[32][33] It was involved in the development of theGranatgamma-ray observatory[34] and theVega program, particularly in modelling trajectories and guidancealgorithms for both Vega probes. The supercomputer developed byIZOT for the mission was later used by the Soviet Union fornuclear fusion simulations.[35][36]
Bulgarian instruments have been used in theexploration of Mars, including the VSK spectrometer that took the first high qualityspectroscopic images of Martian moonPhobos with thePhobos 2 probe.[31][34]Cosmic radiation en route to and around the planet has been mapped byLiulin-ML dosimeters on theExoMars TGO.[37]RADOM-7, an instrument of the Liulin class, has been fitted to theChandrayaan-1 lunar probe, while other versions of the Liulin operate on theInternational Space Station.[38][39] Bulgaria's firstgeostationary communications satellite—BulgariaSat-1—was launched bySpaceX in June 2017.[40]Endurosat One became the first BulgarianCubeSat to be inserted into orbit in July 2018.
TheRozhen Observatory, the largest inSoutheastern Europe, theBelogradchik Observatory and theShumen University Observatory[41] are Bulgaria's main astronomical observatories. Several smaller "public observatories" withplanetaria, focused oneducational andoutreach activities, are located in various towns across the country. AstronomerGeorgi Mandushev headed the team of scientists, which discoveredTrES-4b.[42][43]
Sofia Airport hosts one ofLufthansa Technik's 12 aircraft maintenance and repair facilities in Europe. A significant expansion worth $42 million was completed in 2017, expanding staff to 1,300 engineers and mechanics, adding a new multi-purpose building, hangar and workshops, and increasing capacity to eight production and servicing lines.[44] The facility services mostlyAirbus A320,Boeing 737 andEmbraer-series aircraft.[45] A few companies likeNiki Rotor Aviation andAeroplanes DAR form a small manufacturing industry, producingultralight aircraft in limited numbers.
Asen Yordanov (1896–1967), the founder ofaeronautical engineering in Bulgaria, worked as an aviator, engineer and inventor; he also contributed to the development ofaviation in theUnited States. He played a significant role in U.S. aircraft development (mostly bomber and carrier-based aircraft) and took part in many otherprojects. Yordanov created the first Bulgarian airplane, the "Diplan Yordanov-1", in 1915. CaptainSimeon Petrov of theBulgarian Air Force invented the world's first purpose-built air-to-surface bomb, which included innovations such as an aerodynamically stabilizing x-tail and an impact detonator. To this day the majority of aircraft bombs in the world follow Petrov's 1912 design. The Bulgarian Air Force deployed the original prototype, thus becoming the first military force in the world to conduct tactical airplane bombing sorties duringa full-scale war (in 1912).[46]
Since the 1980s, Bulgaria maintains an active exploration program of theAntarctic region. Following an unsuccessful landing attempt at Cape Vostok on the northwestern extremity ofAlexander Island, two prefabricated huts were assembled on Livingston Island between 26 and 29 April 1988 by a four-member Bulgarian party supported logistically by theSoviet Research ShipMikhail Somov. The facilities were later refurbished and inaugurated as a permanent base on 11 December 1993. An expansion programme at St. Kliment Ohridski including the construction of a new multi-purpose building was carried out between 1996 and 1998 and subsequently.
Some of the expeditions resulted in the publishing in 2009 of a comprehensive topographic map, includingGreenwich,Snow,Robert andSmith islands.
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