The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) is pleased to invite you to the public lecture of Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Sirakov, PhD (Regional History Museum Sliven/IBSCT-BAS) "The secret aristocratic societies in Ancient Thrace according to archaeological findings from the Sliven region". The event is organized in pursuance to Art. 18 (17) of the Annex to the Regulations of the Scientific Council of the IBSCT-BAS regarding terms and conditions for acquiring scientific degrees and for holding academic positions.

The public lecture will be held on January 13, 2026 (Tuesday) at 15:00 in the IBSCT-BAS building (Moskovska Street No. 45).

We are looking forward to welcoming you!

The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) is pleased to invite you to the public lecture of Prof. Dr. Jürgen Fuchsbauer (Faculty of Language, Literature and Culture, University of Innsbruck) "Byzantium in Slavic Voices: Translating Orthodoxy in the Digital Age".

The event is organised under the initiative Every Second Tuesday and will be held on December 9, 2025 (Tuesday) at 15:30 in the IBSCT-BAS building (Moskovska Street No. 45).

We are looking forward to welcoming you! 

The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) is pleased to invite you to the Third Round Table “The Obscured Balkans” on the topic “In the beginning was water”. It will be held on November 27 and 28, 2025. The event is organized under activity B “The Obscured Balkans”, project BG16RFPR002-1.014-0011 “Sustainable Development of the Center for Excellence “Heritage BG”.

The round table will be officially opened by Prof. D.Sc. Alexandre Kostov, Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, on November 27, 2025 (Thursday) at 9:30.

Both established and young scholars and doctoral students will participate in the forum. They will present the role of water in the history of the Balkans.

The event will be held hybrid – on-site in the Seminar Hall of IBSCT-BAS, 45 Moskovska Street, 3rd floor and remotely via ZOOM (https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87326298581).

PROGRAM

At a ceremony in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Angel Zlatkov from the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was awarded the “Danubius” Young Scientist Award of the Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research of the Republic of Austria and the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe.

Introduced in 2014, the Award seeks to highlight the scientific work and talent of young researchers and enhance the visibility of the scientific community in the region. Moreover, the award encourages young scientists to engage in the scientific examination of the multifaceted issues and questions specifically related to the Danube Region.

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The French Minister of Education honored Prof. Roumiana Preshlenova, Director of the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, with the title of Chevalier of the Order of Academic Palms of the Republic of France for 2025. This is one of the highest distinctions, testifying to France's recognition of her contribution to the French-Bulgarian cooperation in the field of university education and scientific research. The order was presented by H.E. Marie Dumoulin, newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France to Bulgaria, at a solemn ceremony on November 12, 2025 at the French Embassy. This is a high award for me as well as for all colleagues and partners with whom we worked together to strengthen ties between French and Bulgarian scholars in the field of humanities, emphasized Prof. Roumiana Preshlenova in her speech. She pointed out that she has always been guided by the understanding that the mission of science in the modern era is not only to create knowledge, but also to share and disseminate it.

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The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is pleased to invite you to the scholarly conference with international participation "The Modern City: Heritage, Technologies, Representations". The event will be held on November 20 and 21, 2025 in Sofia. More details can be found in the conference program.

We look forward to welcoming you!

PROGRAM

The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) is pleased to invite you to take part in a round table, organized by the journal "Balkani" - a periodical of the IBSCT-BAS, focused on the cultural, historical, political, economic, and other problems of the Balkans in their European and global context ((https://www.balkani-bg.com/bg/).

The topic of the round table is "History and Modernity of the European Southeast: Sources and Conclusions". The expectations are that sources (written, material, visual, narrative, and other) for the past and present of the Balkans will be presented. The focus is on the analysis of previously unknown data and on different interpretations of already known evidence aiming at critically understanding the contemporary state of Balkan societies - their problems, attitudes, perceptions.

The round table will be held on March 19–20, 2026 at the IBSCT-BAS (Sofia, 45 Moskovska Street). Applications for participation are accepted until January 20, 2026 at the journal's e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. They must contain: title of the report, name, surname and affiliation of its author, a short summary (between 100 and 200 words).

The Editorial team expect the full texts of the reports to be submitted by May 31, 2026. After double anonymous peer review, the approved ones will be published in the same year in a thematic issue of the journal "Balkans".

The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University and Kharkiv State Academy of Culture organize the IV International Scientific Conference “Problems of preserving cultural heritage in the age of digitisation”. The event will be held on February 19 and 20, 2026 in hybrid format: at the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Sofia, Bulgaria) and online (via ZOOM).

Detailed information about the conference (in Bulgarian, Ukrainian and English) is available here.

PROGRAM

The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) and Skyway Publications are pleased to invite you to the presentation of the book "Ivo Andrić. Literary Dialogues and Etudes" (authors Evdokia Borisova, Mira Dushkova, Kadri Jesur).

The event will be held on November 18, 2025 (Tuesday) at 15:30 in the IBSCT-BAS building (Moskovska Street No. 45).

We are looking forward to welcoming you!

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The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) is pleased to invite you to the public lecture of Kristiyan Kovachev, PhD (IBSCT-BAS) "Lamentation of the Virgin Mary: Verbal and Visual Images from the Medieval Balkans".

The event is organised under the initiative Every Second Tuesday and will be held on November 11, 2025 (Tuesday) at 15:30 in the IBSCT-BAS building (Moskovska Street No. 45).

We are looking forward to welcoming you!

Synopsis: The public lecture will be dedicated to the service "Lamentation of the Theotokos" ("Epitaph", "Grave Lament" or "Lamentation of Christ") - one of the most powerful liturgical texts preserved in the Orthodox tradition. The emergence and development of the service, its changes over the centuries and its place in the liturgical life of the Church will be traced. Special emphasis will be placed on the connection between the service, which is still performed on Good Friday today, and its visual reflections in iconography, in particular in the compositions "Descent from the Cross" and "Laying in the Tomb".

The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Global Young Academy organise a webinar “Not Just Another Statistic: Early-Career Researchers’ Challenges and Pathways of Resilience”. It will be held online on November 10, 2025 (Monday) from 15:00 to 16:00 EET (from 13:00 to 14:00 UTC).

To participate in the webinar, pre-registration is required at this link or by scanning the QR code.

The event is part of the initiative of the International Science Council (ISC) to mark November 10 - World Science Day for Peace and Development.

On October 20, 2025, a public lecture-discussion on the topic “Germany in Dialogue: Cultural Exchange in a European Context” was held at the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS). It is part of the series of events dedicated to cultural diplomacy in the Balkans, organized by the IBSCT-BAS in institutional partnership with the State Institute for Culture to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria (DKI). The initiative is implemented under the Project “Cultural diplomacy in the Balkans in the 20th and 21st centuries: Achievements, challenges, and the way forward”, funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The public lecture-discussion was opened by the Director of the IBSCT-BAS Prof. Dr. Roumiana Preshlenova and the Project Manager Assist. Prof. Dr. Alexandra Milanova, Scientific Coordinator of the IBSCT-BAS. Nia Tabakova welcomed those present on behalf of the director of the DKI Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova.

Special guests and lecturers will be H.E. Irene Maria Plank, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Bulgaria and Dr. Kirsten Hackenbroch, Director of Goethe-Institut Bulgaria. H.E. Irene Maria Plank spoke about the essence of cultural diplomacy in the contemporary world. Dr. Hackenbroch presented the diverse cultural activities of the Goethe-Institut in Bulgaria and Europe, as well as the successful initiatives within the framework of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC).

The event was attended by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Tien, Scientific Secretary of Department 9 "Man and Society", Mr. Yavor Koynakov, Chief Expert Coordination of International Cultural Projects at the DKI, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Albena Taneva, Head of the Department of Public Administration at the Faculty of Philosophy of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Assoc. Prof. Dr. Boris Stoyanov from the Faculty of History of Sofia University, representatives of the cultural sector, scientists, lecturers, doctoral candidates and students.

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