At an official ceremony held in the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on April 23, 2025, the Bulgarian National Science Fund awarded certificates to the most successful projects accomplished in 2024.
Official guests at the event included Prof. Dr Eng. Plamen Petkov, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Fund, members of the Executive Board, university rectors, and representatives of the scientific community.
In his address to the attendees, Prof. Yuri Kalvatchev, Director of the Bulgarian National Science Fund, stated: “Seventy-two percent of the 324 evaluated projects received the highest performance rating, and today you will witness the best of the best.”
The project titled “Cybertaxonomic approach in phylogenetic studies on model genera of invertebrate animals (Invertebrata, Arachnida, Insecta) for elucidating issues regarding the origin, formation, and conservation of the invertebrate fauna of the Balkan Peninsula,” led by Prof. Pavel Stoev and a team consisting of: Assoc. Prof. Rostislav Bekchiev (deputy leader), Assoc. Prof. Dragomir Dimitrov, Assoc. Prof. Hristo Delchev (NMNH-BAS), Chief Assistant Aneliya Bobeva (Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research — BAS), Chief Assistant Rumyana Kostova, and Bachelor Simeon Indzhov (Faculty of Biology, Sofia University), was among the two most successful projects in the field of “Biology” completed in 2024.
Within the framework of the project, over 30 scientific articles were published, most of them in journals with an impact factor, which is a notable record for projects in the “Biology” field. Although the results answered many questions regarding the origin, distribution, and conservation of invertebrate fauna in Bulgaria and other Balkan countries, they also raised many new ones. The team continues its in-depth work through two additional projects funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund.
Assoc. Prof. Rostislav Bekchiev presented the project's results and their significance to society and received a certificate awarded by Acad. Ilza Pajeva, member of the Executive Board of the Fund.
You can watch the ceremony on the official website of the Bulgarian National Science Fund: https://www.youtube.com/live/e8qNowSbRHU.