Opening Conference on Doctoral Project 2030
An Opening Conference on the project No. BG05SFPR001-3.004-0013-C01 - Doctoral Project 2030 was held at the UNWE. The project is funded under the Education Programme 2021-2027 co-financed by the European Union.
"Today we are going to launch two projects that are funded by the European Social Fund, the procedure is called Support for the Development of Project Doctoral Studies. The development of the projects started one year ago and now we start their implementation. I would like to express thankfulness to the people who were very actively involved in their development as well as special thankfulness to Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgy Dobrev, Vice Rector for Research and Mobility of the University of Food Technologies in Plovdiv which is our partner. He was very actively involved in the work on the projects, so I am sure that we will have a very successful cooperation", said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Vodenicharova, Vice Rector for Research of UNWE.
"For the UNWE as a university having over 500 PhD students per year, these projects are important because they are another step for sustainable development and support of young people", said the Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov and emphasized: "Yesterday during the General Assembly we adopted amendments and additions to the UNWE Activity Rules related to the project Doctoral studies. These changes will enable us to actively apply and work on various programmes".
In the Conference took part representatives of the Programme for Education Executive Agency to the Ministry of Education and Science - Stefka Pileva-Malinovska, Director General of the Verification General Directorate, Stilian Apostolov, Head of the Financial Verification Department, Dinko Draganov, State Expert in the Technical Verification Department, Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgy Dobrev, Vice Rector for Research and Mobility of the University of Food Technologies in Plovdiv which is a partner of UNWE on the project. The UNWE was represented by Prof. Dr. Tsvetana Stoyanova, Vice Rector for Institutional and Business Cooperation and Student Policies, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Angel Marchev, Project Coordinator for our university and lecturer at the Management Department.
The main objective of the procedure BG05SFPR001-3.004 - Support for the Development of Project Doctoral Studies is to promote the innovative training of Doctoral students by stimulating the connectivity between higher education institutions and scientific organizations to achieve higher quality teaching and scientific results and to support the process of development of the innovative economy with a focus on Industry 5.0, Green Transition, Blue Growth and/or ISSS /Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization/ areas and the regional labour market demands.
In her presentation Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Vodenicharova pointed out the main activities and parameters of the two projects. She pointed out that the projects have a total value of BGN 4 661 097. The project No. BG05SFPR001-3.004-0013 – Doctoral Project 2030 has a total budget of BGN 2 815 111 and it is led by Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov. It will be implemented in partnership with the University of Food Technology /UFT/. Its main objective is the development of innovative and interdisciplinary Doctoral training at the UNWE, in partnership with the UFT, to achieve higher quality teaching and research outputs, maximally relevant to Industry 5.0, the Green Transition and ISSS areas, taking into account the regional necessities and demands for PhD degree professionals by 2030. On the basis of the identified challenges to higher education in the training of PhD students and the specific demand for PhD degree professionals in the labour market, the UNWE, as the number one business university in the Republic of Bulgaria, and the UFT - Plovdiv, as a leading university in the field of food and biotechnology, should upgrade the training of their PhD students. Recognizing the necessity to train PhD students with a focus on Industry 5.0, Green Transition, Blue Growth and ISSS areas, the UNWE will partner with the UFT enabling the sharing of resources and know-how. The establishment of Doctoral Schools for the training of PhD students will enable the development of innovative and interdisciplinary training to achieve higher quality teaching and research outcomes. The implementation of the project will contribute to improve the labour market relevance and quality of higher education as well as to enhance the knowledge and create skills for the transition to a Green Economy at all levels of higher education.
The project Innovative Doctoral Education 2030 headed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Vodenicharova has a total budget of BGN 1 845 986. It will be implemented in partnership with the Agrarian University - Plovdiv AU – Plovdiv/ and it has an objective to correlate the PhD programmes at the UNWE in the Professional Field 3.7 - Administration and Management and 3.6 – Law with those of the AU - Plovdiv in the Professional Field 4.4 Earth Sciences with the priorities for the development of the economy and the labour market and to increase the level of their practical applicability. As a result of the project Doctoral Schools will be opened at the Agrarian University of Plovdiv and at the UNWE. The UNWE will develop an interdisciplinary Doctoral School that will include a combination of management and law, which are mutually complementary in everyday practice. The Doctoral School will include the following accredited Doctoral programmes: Administration and Management /Regional Development Department/, Organization and Management beyond the Material Sphere /Public Administration Department/, Governance, Civil and Family Law and Administrative Law and Administrative Process. Associated partners of the project are Green Balkans Association - Stara Zagora, Association of Bulgarian Cities and Regions and AUTEGRI Ltd., which will support the practical orientation of the PhD programmes. The two universities will share resources: libraries, research databases, consultations with lecturers, the opportunity to take additional courses, and other resources necessary to conduct quality Doctoral training, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research with high added value, and to develop successful dissertations.
The presentation by Assoc. Prof. Maria Vodenicharova can be seen here.