site.btaSofia Science Festival Takes Place on May 11-14

The 13th edition of Sofia Science Festival, organized by the Beautiful Science Foundation in partnership with the Education and Science Ministry, Sofia Municipality, opened on Thursday in Sofia Tech Park. BTA is a media partner of the festival.

Ivaylo Slavov, chairman of the board of the Beautiful Science Foundation, told BTA that this edition of the festival will feature more than 150 events on three large stages and four workshop halls. In the exhibition area there are about 40 stands of various academic partners, Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS) Institutes, universities, educational organizations, which will show science in a more interactive and interesting way for the audience. 

He added that it will be able to be "touched and felt through hands and through things that can be done with equipment or some scientific gadgets." Visitors can expect a lot of intense emotions and experiences that are related to science in the coming days at Sofia Tech Park.

During the opening of the event, the Executive Director of Sofia Tech Park, Todor Mladenov, noted that the festival not only contributes to a pleasant experience, but also works to make science more and more understandable and popular.

Dr. Milena Damyanova, Director of the Science Directorate at the Ministry of Education and Science, delivered a congratulatory address on behalf of caretaker Education Minister Sasho Penov. 

Petya Ivanova, expert in natural sciences and ecology at the Regional Inspectorate of Education in the capital, presented a congratulatory address on behalf of the Inspectorate's head Vanya Kastreva, in which it was noted that the work of a scientific researcher is a complex activity and there is no more fascinating profession than this.

More than 120 established and young scientists, innovators, researchers, science communicators and artists will engage with audiences of all ages for presentations, discussions, workshops, demonstrations and shows. The overall programme also includes various thematic series on space, health, our planet, science and art, technology and anniversaries.

Scientists from several European countries will give presentations. The Czech participation is of Dr. Peter Kolinski from the Institute of Geophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who will give a lecture on Saturday, May 13, on the topic "What do earthquakes tell us?". He will present a European project set up by scientists from several countries, including Bulgaria and the Czechia, to study seismic activity on the continent, including the Balkans, and the deep structure of the region.

The French participation will be linked to space and green themes, as well as to the presence of women in science. Theoretical astrophysicist from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, Dr. Eric Gurgulon, will talk about black holes, which were long known only as theoretical curiosities in Einstein's general theory of relativity, but are nowadays perceived as standard astrophysical objects. Prof. Jean-Marie Tarascon from the Collège de France University, Head of the Department of Solid State Chemistry - Energy, will talk about a green future for batteries. The inventor of the lithium-ion battery will raise questions about the batteries of the future, and whether they will be the best choice for sustainable development.

Francoise Preteux, who is responsible for the strategic planning of the scientific and economic development of the Mines-Télécom Institute, the first public merger of higher engineering and management schools in France, will talk about what it is like for a woman to choose a career in science. She will participate in a discussion with Bulgarian Prof. Milena Georgieva, molecular biologist and genetics specialist at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Encouraging girls and young women to choose a scientific educational profile and face the challenges of digital, industrial and environmental transformation in the service of a responsible, sustainable and integrated society is the main focus of the discussion between the two.

The Portuguese astrophysicist Alexandre Aibeo will talk about star observations. Ukrainian neuroscientists Pavel Belan and Nana Voitenko will talk about what modern science knows about the human brain. Paleontologist Steve Brusatte is also among the festival's guests.

The Earth and People National Museum has prepared for festival visitors a demonstration of a mobile version of its exhibition on smartphones and the resources it takes to produce them. The head of the museum's Department of Collections and Exhibitions, Dr Petko Petrov, noted that with it they want to show that the planet's raw materials are not infinite and we must use them wisely.

Various faculties of Sofia University have their own stands. On the second day of the festival May 12, a panel is planned to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Geology and Geography at Sofia University. It will feature some of the most recognizable faces of contemporary Bulgarian geography and geology - Prof. Dr. Kliment Naydenov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Berdarov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Steliyan Dimitrov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dimitar Zhelev. They will present their personal stories in the achievements of the faculty - from polar research, to technologies for observing the Earth from space and the sky, to climate change and modern approaches to environmental research. At the Research Fund (RF) booth, various scientists will present their successful RF-funded projects. 

The captain of the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) from the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy Commander Nikolay Danailov will tell about the first voyage to Antarctica on Saturday. 

Several thousand people usually visit the festival, the exhibition areas in different years are visited by between 12,000 and 15,000 people in four days, the events on stage and the workshops are visited by between 8,000 and 12,000 people depending on the edition and the programme of the festival, Ivaylo Slavov told BTA, who expects the 2023 event to attract a very young audience.