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Bulgaria

NATIONAL POLICY

The main Bulgarian public institutions involved in the open science initiative:

  • Ministry of education and science (MES);
  • National Centre for Information and Documentation (NACID);
  • National Council for Smart Growth.

Research Funding Organizations: 

  • Ministry of Education and Science;
  • National Science Fund of Bulgaria (BNSF crossref 501100003336, grid.452994.7)
  • State Agency for Science and Innovation (established in September 2020).

National repository and portal for open science

Since June 2020 there is a National repository for open access to scientific information (https://bpos.bg/en/publish ). It is a cross-disciplinary repository administrated by NACID (https://nacid.bg/en/ ) for scientific publications that are result from publicly funded research. It is developed in compliance with the OpenAIRE Guidelines for Literature Repository Managers v.4.

Since June 2020 there is also a fully functional Bulgarian Portal for Open Science (BPOS https://bpos.bg/ ), maintained by NACID.  The portal and the repository form a system that provides researchers and the public at large with access to scientific publications and other research outputs free of charge in an open and non-discriminatory manner. The system enables the dissemination and enables the use and re-use of scientific research results, thus minimizing efforts and maximizing the benefits of the research.

BPOS and the repository are constantly improving, expanding and striving to transform the way research is conducted. Series of events, workshops and trainings is being carried out with the participation of researchers from Bulgarian RPOs. NACID and MES are working together to engage stakeholders as much as possible in the initiative for open access to scientific information.

Strategic framework:

  • National Open Science Plan, January 2021 – the main strategic document with regards to open science that outlines the open science vision of Bulgaria, gives an overview of reached milestones and takes them into account and outlines detailed objectives, commitments and action points with regard to the development and sustainability of the open science initiative in Bulgaria for the next five years.
  • National strategy for the development of the scientific research 2017 – 2030 + Implementation plan – “open access to scientific information” is a strategic action point and also there is an objective “active participation in the European research area and strengthening international cooperation and partnerships in the field of science, including the EOSC and similar initiatives.”
  • National concept for open access to scientific information - outlines the essence and framework of open science.
  • Guidelines on sharing scientific publications with open access and using the national repository and the portal for open science are published in the Bulgarian Portal for Open Science (BPOS) and are distributed within the research community.
  • Instructions for publishing in the national repository are available on BPOS.

Legal framework:

  • Fostering of Scientific Research and Innovation bill is drafted that includes commitments and regulations regarding open science.
  • Under art. 2a, par. 4 of the Act on the Development of the Academic Staff in the Republic of Bulgaria since 1st  of November 2018 all doctoral dissertations are kept in electronic and paper form in a publicly accessible archive, administered by NACID.
  • Rule of procedure for monitoring and evaluation of research activities performed by HEIs and ROs and of the activities of the National Science Fund.
  • ORDINANCE for conditions and order of assessment, planning, allocation and expenditure of funds from the state budget for financing the inherent of State Universities scientific or artistic activity (Prom. SG. 73 of 16.09.2016, in force from 01.01.2017 Adopted by Decree № 233 from 10.09.2016., under the art. 91A of the Higher Education Act.

EOSC IN BULGARIA

  • Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" is a member of the EOSC Association
  • NI4OS Europe - Institute of Information and Communication Technologies and Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Science;
  • OpenAIRE-Advance - Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IMI-BAS);
  • CLaDA-BG is integrated with CLARIN ERIC and DARIAH ERIC;
  • There is a functioning RDA Node Bulgaria.