Bulgaria

Concerted efforts to increase success in winning grants from the research programme are bearing fruit. While still low in the EU league table, the two countries now have the networks and support systems in place to make further headway 

The researcher behind the government backed computer science centre laments the EU’s slow, top-down approach to innovation and backs the Sofia-based facility to succeed by carrying out high quality research, providing the feedstock for start-ups

Gabriel will act as understudy to anti-corruption campaigner Nikolay Denkov, a member of the Academy of Sciences, in a government that looks on paper a boon for the country’s R&D. But judicial reform will be the priority

The portfolio of Mariya Gabriel is split in two, with Margrethe Vestager caretaker of R&I until a replacement is appointed. Some question Vestager’s interest in research, while others think her experience in competition policy will be a positive for innovation  

The EU’s Bulgarian commissioner officially leaves Brussels, with a mandate for a difficult task: trying to form a coalition government back home in Sofia after close elections

Research commissioner given unpaid leave from Brussels after she was nominated to be Bulgaria’s next prime minister. Research lobbyists say the timing is ‘particularly unfortunate’ as work begins to shape the next decade of R&I policy

With a new start-up visa, Bulgaria joins the Baltic states in offering foreign entrepreneurs a fast-track to residency

The government hopes public and private investments in new centre will help Bulgaria reverse brain drain and make the capital city Sofia a top destination for computer scientists

The €170M project will be a testbed for the new cohesion policy programmes for 2021-2027

Nominated for Innovation and Youth commissioner, Gabriel is expected to take on an expanded portfolio, merging education with research and innovation. She will move from her current post overseeing digital policy