site.btaCabinet Allocates BGN 3.4 Million for 3 Projects of Promising Young Scientists

The Cabinet approved BGN 3,405,747 on Wednesday to support three projects of young and promising Bulgarian scientists, which were highly evaluated in the PROMYS component of the Bulgarian-Swiss Research Programme, but were not funded by the programme due to insufficient budget. Through the funding granted by the state, the three applicants will receive support to implement their project proposals for a period of 5 years (2025-2029).

The PROMYS component targets outstanding young scientists from EU countries or Switzerland who want to pursue a scientific career in Bulgaria and aims to create promising and interesting career opportunities for them in the country, thus counteracting the "brain drain". The total funding under the component is CHF 2 million, with only three research projects funded. In the evaluation of the proposals, it was found that there were other worthy scientific developments outside these that should receive funding. In this context, additional funds are approved to support three more young Bulgarian scientists to implement their project proposals in Bulgaria. As a consequence, they will settle in the country and set up their own teams, which will work at the Institute of Mechanics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Astronomy at BAS and the Specialist Hospital for the Treatment of Haematological Diseases.

Their projects will investigate the optimization of thermal and electrical energy storage systems using granular materials, the life cycle of comets and next-generation sequencing for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with myeloid malignancies in Bulgaria.