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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On October 24, 2025, from 9:00 to 17:00, at the main building of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences an Open Day of the Electronic Infrastructure for the Bulgarian Language and Cultural Heritage – CLaDA-BG, in which the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology is an expert partner and data provider, will take place.

During the event, software systems, services, and databases developed in the fields of social sciences and the humanities will be presented, along with initiatives of CLaDA-BG’s partners created within the framework of the e-infrastructure. The aim of the Open Day is not only to showcase the achievements and progress of CLaDA-BG but also to encourage the exchange of experience among researchers and to highlight opportunities for collaboration within the national and European research landscape.

More information is available on the BAS website: https://www.bas.bg/?tribe_events=59301 and on the CLaDA-BG website: https://clada-bg.eu/den-na-otvorenite-vrati-clada-bg-2025

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-discussion on the topic “Germany in Dialogue: Cultural Exchange in a European Context”. It will be held on October 20, 2025 (Monday) at 18:00 in the Institute of Balkan Studies (45, Moskovska Street, 1000 Sofia). 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.

The event is organized in institutional partnership with the State Institute for Culture to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is part of a series of public lecture-discussions dedicated to cultural diplomacy in Bulgaria and the Balkans.

We look forward to welcoming you!

This initiative is implemented as part of 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, contract No. КП-06-Н80/4 dated 07.12.2023.

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The leadership of the Institute of Balkan Studies and Centre of Thracology, the Council for Bulgarian Studies Abroad at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Association for Bulgarian Studies of the USA are pleased to invite you to the presentation of the collection “LIVING BRIDGES ACROSS TIME. 12TH JOINT CONFERENCE OF BULGARIAN AND NORTH AMERICAN SCHOLARS/ЖИВИ МОСТОВЕ ВЪВ ВРЕМЕТО. XII-ТА СЪВМЕСТНА КОНФЕРЕНЦИЯ НА БЪЛГАРСКИ И АМЕРИКАНСКИ УЧЕНИ“.

The collection is edited by Alexandre Kostov, Anissava Miltenova and Traci Speed. The edited volume is published by the Prof. Marin Drinov Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (2025, 285 p.).

The book includes a preface and 21 articles from the bilateral scholarly conference held on June 15 and 16, 2024 in Sofia, in which Bulgarian and American researchers participated. The scholarly forum was dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Bulgaria. The event and the publication of this collection are part of the implemenation of the National Scientific Program "Development and Promotion of Bulgarian Studies Abroad", funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria. The book presentation will take place at the Institute of Balkan Studies and Centre of Thracology (45, Moskovska Street) on October 14, 2025 at 15:30.

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The Institute for Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology "Prof. Alexander Fol" at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) organizes a round table "HOMO LUDENS AND HOMO BALKANICUS: THE GAME IN THE VERBAL WORLD OF THE BALKANS". The event will be held on October 16 and 17, 2025 in the IBSCT-BAS, Moskovska Street No. 45.

The round table will be devoted to a fundamental phenomenon in the history of civilization, the subject of Johan Huizinga’s seminal work on homo ludens and the ludic element in culture. Across several panels, participants will present their inquiries into diverse manifestations of the ludic principle in literature, the arts, politics, diplomacy, sports, and other spheres of activity in the Balkans, as well as in the region’s interactions with Europe.

The round table also pays tribute to eminent Bulgarian scholars who have dedicated their research to this subject. Of particular significance are Prof. Svetlozar Igov, with his insights into the figure of Homo Balkanicus; Prof. Boilchev, with his monograph Adam Bernard Mickiewicz – Between the Stature of the National Prophet and Homo Ludens (1999); and Prof. Hristo Bondzholov, with his study Homo Balkanicus as Homo Ludens: The Satirical Worldview in the Works of Radoje Domanović and Branislav Nušić (2003). 

Please find below the link to join the Google Meet:

https://calendar.app.google/3QtBU8uMeozxDAsf9

PROGRAMME

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The Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) and the Faculty of History of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" are pleased to invite you to the presentation of the works of Prof. Serhii Plokhy and Prof. Mark Kramer, published in Bulgarian by CIELA and Prozorets Publishing Houses, as part of a broader discussion "Cold War and Hot War in Europe" moderated by Mr. Boyko Vassilev. The books and authors will be presented by Prof. D.Sc. Nadia Boyadzhieva affiliated with IBSCT-BAS.

The focus of the event will be the monograph "USSR and Eastern Europe" (2022, CIELA Publishing House) by Mark Kramer: A large-scale and detailed documentary study of Soviet policy towards Eastern Europe during the Cold War and the books by Serhii Plokhy "The Gates of Europe. History of Ukraine" (2022, Prozorets Publishing House), "The Russo-Ukrainian War" (2024, Prozorets Publishing House) and "The Lost Kingdom. History of Russian Nationalism from Ivan III the Great to Vladimir Putin" (2024, Prozorets Publishing House).

Date: September 24, 2025
Start: 18:00
Venue: Hall 1 of the Central Military Club

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On September 18, 2025 (Thursday) at 15:30, the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) will hold a public lecture by Wolfgang Höpken, professor at the University of Leipzig and a visiting scholar, on the topic: “Unifications” in Modern European History: Contextualizing “1885”.

The event is organized at the IBSCT-BAS, 45 Moskovska Street, in implementation of the National Scientific Program "Development and Promotion of Bulgarian Studies Abroad" of the Ministry of Education and Science.

We look forward to welcoming you.

На 16 септември 2025 г. (вторник) от 15.30 ч.  Институтът за балканистика с Център по тракология при Българската академия на науките (ИБЦТ–БАН) ще проведе публична лекция на Чен Ин, професор в Пекинския университет за чужди езици и гостуващ чуждестранен българист, на тема „Развитие на българистиката в Китай: история и постижения“.

Събитието се организира в сградата на ИБЦТ–БАН на ул. „Московска“ № 45 като част от цикъла ВСЕКИ ВТОРИ ВТОРНИК и в изпълнение на Национална научна програма „Развитие и утвърждаване на българистиката в чужбина“ на МОН.

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