On 19 March 2025, we officially celebrated the launch of the ProSkills2Work – Progressing Promising Skills to Work in Bulgaria project.
This major initiative for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), with a budget of nearly €2.5 million and a five-year framework, is funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe Programme. The project enhances the research capacity of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology (IPS), increases its international scientific visibility, and strengthens its potential to attract project-based funding. ProSkills2Work is expected to bring Bulgarian research in the sociology of education and labour to a world-class level under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Christian Imdorf from the University of Hannover, who has joined the IPS team for a five-year period.
The official launch event took place at the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at BAS (NAIM), in the presence of over 100 guests representing stakeholders and IPS allies in the important field of the transition from vocational education to employment. Among the attendees were members of the BAS management, the Representation of the European Commission in Sofia, representatives of various BAS institutes and their Horizon Europe and European Research Area (ERA) projects, state institutions, employer organisations, trade unions, representatives from the Embassies of Switzerland and Austria, and human resources professionals.
Welcoming speeches were delivered by: Prof. D.Sc. Sthelian Shterionov – Vice-President of BAS, Prof. Bogdana Todorova – Deputy Director of IPS, Acad. Nikolay Vitanov – Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov – President of the National Statistical Institute, Ms. Zornitsa Rusinova – President of the Economic and Social Council, Ms. Gabriela Goranova-Dimcheva – Deputy Executive Director of the Employment Agency, Ms. Antonia Bierbaumer – Acting Head of the Austrian Embassy, Mr. Thomas Stauffer – Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Bulgaria, Ms. Maria Mincheva – Deputy Chairperson of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, Prof. Christian Imdorf – ERA Chair holder of the ProSkills2Work project.
