site.btaSofia University SUMMIT Project Holds First Annual Conference

The first annual conference of the SUMMIT project (Sofia University Marking Momentum for Innovation and Technological Transfer) was held on Tuesday. The project has been running since the beginning of 2023. It is funded by NextGenerationEU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), under the Innovative Bulgaria component. SUMMIT has a duration of 42 months and will end on June 30, 2026. The funding amounts to BGN 44 million.

The SUMMIT project is part of the programme to create a network for research universities, Prof. Georgi Vaisilov, Executive Director of the Programme Education Executive Agency, said. He noted that the programme is funded under the NRRP with a total amount of BGN 360 million, which, with the change of the plan at the end of 2023, was increased by another BGN 12 million to fund another research university - the Angel Kanchev University of Ruse.

Vaisilov said that the funds made it possible to implement a new approach to stimulate research in research universities, which is also envisaged in the National Strategy for Higher Education of Bulgaria.

Sofia University Rector Prof. Georgi Valchev described the project as "big and very important for Sofia University and for Bulgarian science". "So far, over 650 of our colleagues, including young colleagues, have been involved in the project, which shows the great capacity of Sofia University in the field of science. The project covers all scientific fields and knowledge, science, is present in its fullness," he said.

According to caretaker Deputy Education and Science Minister Natalia Miteva, a network of ten research universities has been established in Bulgaria. "For us, these ten universities are of utmost importance because higher education institutions can make a real and direct contribution to a knowledge-based economy. The resource that is invested through the NRRP is substantial - we have BGN 236 million that is invested in these ten universities in Bulgaria, of which Sofia University receives BGN 44 million," Miteva said.