Sergey Ignatov, Bulgaria's Education Minister, has proposed that the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) should negotiate framework agreements for cooperation with Bulgarian universities.

Speaking before attending the regular ministerial meeting on Wednesday, Ignatov cited the example the Literary Institute which, he suggested, could work with some of the university humanitarian faculties, giving students a broader opportunity for courses and practical work.

It would also benefit the institutes because they would be able to attract young people and work constantly with them, said Ignatov.

More funding for such joint ventures would be provided to the universities.

"We will achieve what we wanted long ago - to build large scientific incubators around the universities and preserve the scientific potential of the country," he said.

The current BAS proposal is for institutes with similar types of activity to merge without depriving them of the right to conduct research, Ignatov stated.

"I think the better working option is to continue the process of retirement of people, the process of liberation from dead souls," he commented.

"Within the institutes there are many people who hold an academic position and for 10 years they have not come to work - but they are still enlisted in order for the institute to continue to exist," the Education Minister explained.

"With the merger of the institutes their "trademark" is lost, so if the Institute of Thracology is closed down, our neighbors will say: "If they do not have a Thracology Institute, then they themselves admit that this heritage of ancient Thrace is ours," he remarked.

"If the St Cyril and St Methodius Institute were to be closed down, it would immediately appear in another place in another country," Ignatov concluded.

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