CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRACY

Their core work

The Center for the Study of Democracy is a Bulgarian policy research institute that analyzes the intersection of security, energy policy, and societal dynamics across Europe and its neighboring regions. They specialize in understanding human behavior and social drivers behind energy transitions, migration patterns, and radicalization — providing evidence-based policy recommendations backed by data analytics and social research. Their work bridges quantitative methods (big data analytics, predictive modeling) with qualitative expertise in governance, religion, and public sentiment analysis.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2016–2019, CSD focused primarily on energy demand behavior (consumer choices, prosumership, renewable co-ownership) alongside early security work on organized crime. From 2020 onward, their portfolio shifted decisively toward security and societal resilience — migration flow prediction, extremism prevention in MENA/Balkans, and border inspection technologies — while maintaining energy work with a new emphasis on policy impact assessment and energy citizenship. A notable addition is their entry into research infrastructure and big data analytics (SoBigData++), signaling a move toward computational social science methods.

CSD is evolving from a traditional policy think tank toward a data-informed security and societal resilience research center, increasingly incorporating computational methods and digital tools into their social analysis work.

How they like to work

CSD operates exclusively as a consortium partner — across all 12 H2020 projects, they have never served as coordinator. They consistently join large, diverse consortia (168 unique partners across 40 countries), which suggests they are valued as a regional expert contributor rather than a project driver. Their wide but non-repeating partner network indicates they bring specific Balkan/Southeast European perspective and policy expertise to many different teams rather than anchoring around a fixed set of collaborators.

With 168 unique consortium partners spanning 40 countries, CSD has one of the broadest collaboration networks for a Bulgarian research center. Their partnerships reach well beyond the EU into MENA and Balkan regions, reflecting their thematic focus on cross-regional security and migration dynamics.

What sets them apart

CSD occupies a rare niche as a Bulgarian think tank that bridges Southeast European, Balkan, and MENA regional knowledge with EU-wide policy research — a geographic and cultural perspective few Western European institutions can offer. Their dual expertise in energy transitions and security/migration makes them unusually versatile for cross-thematic consortia. For anyone building a project that needs grounded field knowledge from the EU's eastern periphery or its southern neighborhood, CSD is a proven, reliable partner with a 12-project track record.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ENABLE.EU
  Largest single grant (EUR 299,656) — a flagship project on individual and collective energy choices that anchored CSD's energy policy expertise.
• ITFLOWS
  Combines predictive modeling of migration flows with digital tools for policy support — represents CSD's evolution toward data-driven security analysis.
• CONNEKT
  Second-largest grant (EUR 267,510) studying extremism in MENA and Balkans — directly uses CSD's unique regional positioning at the EU's southeastern border.