Science and technology in Bulgaria is carried out in a variety of institutions, largely dominated by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) and several universities.
Overview
Spending on research and development is low, amounting to 0.78% of GDP, and the bulk of public R&D funding goes to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). Private businesses accounted for more than 73% of R&D expenditures and employed 42% of Bulgaria's 22,000 researchers in 2015. The same year, Bulgaria ranked 39th out of 50 countries in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, the highest score being in education (24th) and the lowest in value-added manufacturing (48th). By 2020, Bulgaria ranked 42nd, but with an increase in value-added manufacturing to 33rd. Bulgaria was ranked 35th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, up from 40th in 2019.
Chronic government underinvestment in research since 1990 has forced many professionals in science and engineering to leave Bulgaria. Despite the lack of funding, research in chemistry, materials science and physics remains strong.
High levels of female participation in science and engineering, a legacy of the Socialist era, are characteristic for all fields of research.
Fields of research
ICT
Three per cent of economic output is generated by the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector where 40,000 to 51,000 software engineers are employed. More than a quarter of Bulgarian ICT specialists are women, the highest percentage of females in ICT in any EU country. Computer science builds upon foundations laid in the Socialist era, when the country was known as a "Communist Silicon Valley" due to its key role in COMECON computing technology production. Pravetz computers were the principal mass computer series designed and manufactured in Bulgaria at the time.
Bulgaria is also a regional leader in high performance computing. The Institute of Computer and Communication Systems at BAS operates Avitohol, 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, and Nestum at Sofia Tech Park. An IBM Blue Gene/P at the National Centre for Supercomputing Applications ceased operations in 2015. A new supercomputer, the Discoverer, was installed in 2021 and ranked 91st in the TOP500 in 2021.
Physics
Ivan Stranski (1897–1979) developed the molecular-kinetic theory of crystal formation and crystal growth. The results of his work on crystal structure and behaviour have had wide application in the areas of physical chemistry, metallurgy and mining. Georgi Nadjakov was among Bulgaria's top physicists, and became known for his experiments on the photoelectric effect and most notably, the discovery of photoelectrets. Nadjakov's discoveries are now widely employed in photocopier machines.
Bulgaria is an active member of CERN and has contributed to its activities with nearly 200 scientists since its accession in 1999. Bulgarian scientists took part in the L3 experiment of the Large Electron–Positron Collider in the 1980s.
Medicine
A domestic pharmaceutical industry grew quickly after a Soviet-style planned economy was implemented in the late 1940s. Cytisine, a smoking cessation aid, and galantamine, a drug synthesised by Dimitar Paskov and used to treat cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease, are some of the drugs developed by Bulgarian researchers. 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 stage clinical trials are a weakness. Sopharma AD has been a leader in pharmaceutical research since the 1950s.
Dr. Georgi Stranski University Hospital in Pleven was the first hospital to implement the Da Vinci Surgical System in the country and operates two systems. Two other hospitals in Sofia, Acibadem City Clinic Tokuda Hospital and Doverie, each operate one Da Vinci system. The total number of the systems in Bulgaria was 8 in 2021.