BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Their core work

The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is Bulgaria's leading national research institution, functioning here primarily as a support and coordination body for EU research mobility programs. Within H2020, BAS served as Bulgaria's national contact point for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), helping researchers navigate EU funding, improve proposal quality, and build cross-border research networks. They also contributed to pan-European research infrastructure planning (DANUBIUS-RI) and hydrogen regulatory mapping (HyLAW), reflecting their broad institutional reach across disciplines.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

BAS began its H2020 participation focused on building the MSCA National Contact Point network — training NCPs, improving proposal quality, and raising awareness of mobility schemes (Net4Mobility, 2015). Over time, the focus shifted toward broader researcher career development, talent attraction, and public engagement with science (K-TRIO 3, FRESHER). The later projects also show a stronger emphasis on widening participation and science communication to general audiences, suggesting a move from internal capacity building to outward-facing engagement.

BAS is moving from behind-the-scenes NCP coordination toward public-facing researcher engagement and widening participation — a useful partner for projects needing outreach in Southeast Europe.

How they like to work

BAS participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with its role as a national contact point contributing country-specific expertise to larger European networks. With 100 unique partners across 33 countries from just 6 projects, BAS operates in very large consortia (averaging ~17 partners per project). This makes them a well-connected node rather than a project driver — easy to work with in large networks but unlikely to lead a consortium.

Despite only 6 projects, BAS has built a remarkably wide network of 100 partners across 33 countries, reflecting participation in pan-European coordination and support actions that typically involve one partner per member state.

What sets them apart

BAS is Bulgaria's gateway institution for EU research programs — if you need a Bulgarian partner with deep knowledge of EU funding mechanisms and researcher mobility, they are the default choice. Their NCP role gives them unmatched connections to national research communities across Europe, particularly in widening countries. For consortium builders, BAS adds geographic coverage, dissemination capacity in Southeast Europe, and credibility as the country's premier research body.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DANUBIUS-PP
  Largest single grant (EUR 46,875) and the only research infrastructure project — shows BAS contributing to a major pan-European environmental monitoring facility.
• Net4MobilityPlus
  Second-largest grant (EUR 42,844) and the most keyword-rich project, explicitly targeting widening countries and trans-national cooperation among MSCA NCPs.