Parliament has unanimously approved the 2025 annual report of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), with 169 votes in favour. BAS president and corresponding member Evelina Slavcheva presented the report to MPs.

Last year BAS scientists published 4,185 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. About 64% of them are in the Q1 and Q2 categories. The report says BAS publications stayed at the high level of the previous reporting period.

The state budget gave the academy a subsidy of more than €122.7m (240m leva). Its own income and transfers came to more than €73.6m (144m leva).

The report covers BAS research, projects and publications, international cooperation and finances. A total of 39 new research projects began in 2025. Five national research programmes also continued with funding from the Ministry of Education and Science.

One new programme has also started, "Development of research and innovation in Bulgaria's pre-school and school education system". Slavcheva said the academy's research capacity is growing through national and European research programmes and by renewing its research facilities.

At the end of 2025, BAS had about 4,500 staff, half of them academic. It had 2,454 scientists, slightly more than a year earlier.

Slavcheva said the academy's main priority is to attract, keep and develop highly qualified staff. She said most employees are in their most active working years, which points to a problem in attracting and keeping more young researchers and established scientists. In her view, good working conditions are needed to bring in doctoral students and young scientists.

At the start of 2025, BAS had 418 doctoral students in total: 196 full-time, 148 part-time, 68 on independent study and 6 on projects. During the year 187 new students were admitted, 87 defended their dissertations and 95 were dropped from the programme.

BAS says that over the past year or two the drift away from the natural sciences, seen in the previous decade, has begun to reverse. Interest in them is still growing only slowly, but the effect is already clearly visible.

In 2025 BAS scientists filed 30 new applications, 26 for patents and 4 to register utility models. The academy received 35 patents and registered 9 utility models. As of 31 December 2025, it held 231 patents, utility models and registered new plant varieties in total, while 74 applications for patents and utility models were waiting for examination.

The report names two challenges for the academy: artificial intelligence spreading fast into more and more fields, and a lack of money to maintain its facilities.

The academy is holding an exhibition to mark 155 years since the first scientific publication of modern Bulgaria, "Periodical Journal", which now comes out as "BAS Journal". It shows the first issue, printed in Braila in 1870 and kept in the BAS Central Library.