The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS, in Bulgarian: Българска академия на науките, Balgarska akademiya na naukite, abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, located in Sofia, is autonomous and has a Society of Academicians, Correspondent Members and Foreign Members. It publishes and circulates different scientific works, encyclopedias, dictionaries and journals, and runs its own publishing house.
Stefan Vodenicharov has been president of the BAS since 2012. Its budget in 2009 was 84 million leva, or 42.7 million euro. The Bulgarian Space Agency, part of the BAS, has a budget of 1 million euro.
As Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire, Bulgarian émigrés founded the Bulgarian Literary Society on 26 September 1869, in Brăila in the Kingdom of Romania. The first Statutes accepted were:
Board of Trustees
Nikolai Tsenov – President
Vasilaki Mihailidi
Petraki Simov
Kostaki Popovich
Stefan Beron
Acting members:
Marin Drinov (1838-1906) – Chairman
Vasil Drumev (1840-1901) – Member
Vasil D. Stoyanov (1839-1910) – Secretary
The following year, the Literary Society began issuing the Periodical Journal, its official publication, and in 1871 elected its first honorary member - Gavril Krastevich.
In 1878, shortly after Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman rule, the General Assembly voted to move the seat of the Society from Brăila to Sofia, and on 1 March 1893 the BLS moved into its own building, right next to where the Bulgarian Parliament is seated. The BLS headquarters were completed in 1892. The building was designed by architect Hermann Mayer and was expanded during the 1920s.
The Bulgarian Literary Society adopted its present-day name in 1911, and Ivan Geshov became the Academy's first president. The BAS became a member of the Union of Slavonic Academies and Scientific Communities in 1913, and was accepted as member of the International Council of Scientific Unions in 1931.
The BAS has 9 main sections, more broadly united under three main branches: Natural, mathematical and engineering sciences, Biological, medical and agrarian sciences and Social sciences, humanities and art. Each consists of independent scientific institutes, laboratories and other sections.
Institute of Mathematics and Informatics
Institute of Mechanics
Institute of Information and Communication Technologies
National Laboratory of Computer Virology
Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy
Institute of Solid State Physics
Institute of Electronics
Institute of Astronomy
National Astronomical Observatory - Rozhen
Astronomical Observatory Belogradchik
Central Laboratory of Solar Energy and New Energy Sources
Central Laboratory for Applied Physics - Plovdiv
Central Laboratory of Optical Storage and Processing of Information
Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry
Institute of Organic Chemistry with a Center of Phyto-Chemistry
Institute of Physical Chemistry
Institute of Catalysis
Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems (IIES) (former Central Laboratory of Electrochemical Power Sources)
Institute of Chemical Engineering
Central Laboratory of Photoprocesses
Institute of Polymers
Institute of Neurobiology
Institute of Molecular Biology
Institute of Genetics
Institute of Physiology
Institute of Plant Physiology
Institute of Microbiology
Institute of Experimental Morphology and Anthropology
Institute of Botany
Institute of Zoology
Forest Research Institute
Institute of Experimental Pathology and Parasitology
Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction
Institute of Biophysics
National Museum of Natural History
Central Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering
Central Laboratory of General Ecology
Geological Institute
Geophysical Institute
National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology
Central Laboratory for Geodesy
Central Laboratory of Mineralogy and Crystallography
Institute of Oceanology
Geographical Institute
Space Research Institute
Central Laboratory of Solar - Terrestrial Influences
Central Laboratory for Seismic Mechanics and Earthquake Engineering
Institute of Water Problems
Institute of Metal Science
Central Laboratory of Physico-Chemical Mechanics
Institute of Computer and Communication Systems
Institute of Information Technologies
Institute of Control and System Research
Central Laboratory of Mechatronics and Instrumentation
Bulgarian Ship Hydrodynamics Centre
Humanities (Division 'Cultural-Historical Heritage and National Identity')
Institute of Bulgarian Language
Institute of Literature
Institute for Balkan Studies and Center for Thracology
Institute for History Studies
Institute for Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, comprising the former
Institute for Folklore Studies
Ethnographic Institute with Museum
Institute for Arts Studies, comprising the former
Center for Architectural Studies
Institute of Art Studies
National Archaeological Institute and Museum
Scientific Center for Cyrillo-Methodian Studies
Social Sciences (Division 'Man and Society')
Institute for Economic Studies
Institute for the State and Law
Institute for Population and Human Studies, comprising the former
Institute of Psychology
Center for Population Studies
Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, comprising the former
Institute of Sociology
Institute of Philosophical Studies
Center for Science Studies and History of Science
Specialized and Supporting Units
Central Administration of BAS
Central Library of BAS
Scientific Archives of BAS
Academic Publishing House "Prof. Marin Drinov"
Botanical Garden
National Centre on Nanosciences and Nanotechnology
Bulgarian Encyclopedia Scientific Information Center
Social - Utility Service
Center for National Security Research
Research Development and Implementation Association "Scientific Instrumentation"
Laboratory of Telematics
Ph.D. Research Career Development Center
Academia Peak and Camp Academia on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica are named for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in appreciation of Academy’s contribution to the Antarctic exploration.
