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Focus on Bulgaria

Facts and figures, life scientists in Bulgaria, EMBO opportunities

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Bulgaria joined the EMBC as a member state in 2025. Life scientists in Bulgaria are eligible for all EMBO Programmes supporting life scientists in Europe and beyond.

 

Facts and figures

Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula with a coastline on the Black Sea and extensive mountainous terrain. It is a member of the European Union and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.1

There are 51 higher education institutions in Bulgaria with 180,000 students in total.2  Around 39% of Bulgarian adults attain a tertiary education.3  Bulgaria has an active research and innovation ecosystem with more than 24,350 researchers in 2022. Gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) increased by 46% between 2019 and 2023 to reach 1.47 billion Bulgarian lev or 0.79% of Gross Domestic Product. The main sectors financing GERD in 2022 were inward investment providing 40%, the business enterprise sector with 35% and government with 25%. 4

The European Patent Office granted 22 patents to residents of Bulgaria in 2024.5   Life scientists in Bulgaria have access to funding from the National Science Fund 6 and through Horizon Europe and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions 7 as well as EMBO.

Population: 6.44 million 8
R&D spending: 0.79% of GDP 4
People employed in R&D: 24,350 4
Patents: 22 5
Higher education institutions: 51 2
Horizon Europe funding:7
  • 684 organizations including 191 SMEs involved in Horizon Europe activities

  • 73 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions funded researchers

All life scientists in Bulgaria are eligible for the EMBO Programmes supporting life scientists in Europe and beyond.

Find out about all EMBO funding schemes here.

Click to expand

All information as of November 2025.

References

  1. Ministry of Tourism, Visit Bulgaria, About Bulgaria
  2. Ministry of Education and Science, Register of Higher Education Institutions
  3. Eurostat, Population by educational attainment level, sex and age
  4. OECD Data Base, Main Science and Technology Indicators
  5. European Patent Office, Patent Index 2024
  6. Ministry of Education and Science
  7. European Commission, Horizon Europe country profile
  8. National Statistical Institute

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