Kaloyan Konstantinov, a PhD student at the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Tracology at the Bulgarian Acadermy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS) was awarded the prestigious King's College London Emerging Leader Award. Since 2017, the award has been given in 12 categories to distinguished alumni of the university who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and civic leadership. Kaloyan completed his MA in Middle Eastern Studies in 2018 in London. In 2021, he enrolled in a PhD programme at the IBSCT-BAS, dedicated to the relations between Iran and the Balkans in the period 1990-2021.

He received the award for his work as an independent journalist covering hot spots and world-changing events - including the war in Ukraine from the front, protests in Iran, Iraq, Israel, Tunisia, etc.. The jury also appreciated his activities as an international lecturer on media literacy, disinformation and international relations.

Kaloyan combines his research as a PhD student at the IBSCT-BAS with fieldwork. Just days ago, on June 29, he was also awarded the Journalism for Peace Award for his on-the-ground reporting of the bloody protests in support of human rights and democracy in Iran since 2022. At the end of last year, he was also included in the prestigious "30 under 3" ranking of Forbes Magazine for influential people.