Bulgarian Academy of Sciences currently functions in a “survival mode”, according to its Director, Professor Nikola Sabotinov.

Sabotinov gave a new conference Monday presenting some of the results from a 500-page audit report of the BAS prepared by the European Science Foundation and the European Federation of Science Academies.

He pointed out that the international assessment has shown that most of the 69 institutes of the BAS were carrying out valuable scientific activities.

Sabotinov stressed the fact that the most important conclusion of the report was that the BAS was “a recognizable scientific research center which has its place among the science institutions in Europe”.

“The report shows that the BAS has teams with leading global positions in the fields of the scientific research,” Sabotinov said adding that the Bulgarian politicians should be taking pride in the fact that foreign experts were giving high assessments to the BAS.

One of the major recommendations of the audit report is the need to support young scientists. Sabotinov said their salaries could be increased either through the retirement of older ones, or through additional payments from the state budget.

He did not reveal which of the BAS Institutes received the lowest assessments by the foreign experts.

Bulgaria’s Minister of Education and Science, Sergey Ignatov, has made it clear that the brain drain was a huge issue in Bulgaria, and that it was not the large number of old scientists but the small number of young ones which was the problem.

Ignatov said the international assessment for the BAS was good but confirmed that some of its institutes would have to be restructured.