The Geo Milev Campus – the newest laboratory complex of BAS, was opened at an official ceremony today. The campus has a unique scientific infrastructure for the country, distributed in 20 newly created and 10 renovated laboratories. Thirteen of the newly created laboratories are located in the reconstructed and modernized Block 29, part of the Scientific Complex 1 of the BAS.
The renovation of the infrastructure was implemented under the project “National Centre for Mechatronics and Clean Technologies” with funding from the “Science and Education for Smart Growth” Operational Programme 2014-2020. The established laboratory complex provides the necessary conditions for conducting fundamental and applied research to support Bulgaria’s transition to a green, energy-efficient and circular economy.
This project is the largest and has the largest capacity of all the Centres of Excellence, said at the opening ceremony the President of BAS Prof. Julian Revalski, Member of the Academy. With its realization we have proved that scientists in Bulgaria can unite and work together for the sake of getting good scientific results, he added. Twelve scientific units of BAS are involved in the project with the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry as the coordinating organization.
Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov attended the official ceremony and congratulated the scientists for their achievements under the “National Centre for Mechatronics and Clean Technologies” project. He recalled that ten years ago the Academy did not have modern equipment for scientific research. If we do not change the approach to scientists, these laboratories will remain empty, said Acad. Denkov and added that he was committed to work for this.
Among the guests at the opening ceremony were the Minister of Environment and Water Julian Popov, the Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth Prof. George Angelov, Mr. Boyko Blagoev – Head of the EC Representation in Bulgaria and others.
During the five-year period of the project implementation, the activities of the Geo Milev Campus researchers have been focused on the development of innovative technologies for the production, purification and storage of hydrogen; for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, for the replacement of lithium-ion batteries with safer and more harmless batteries; purification of air, soil and water through catalytic and sorption technologies; the use of waste products and their reintegration into new products; the production of technologically important materials through environmentally friendly technologies. The achieved results have been published in international scientific journals with high impact factor, which are in the top 10% of the Web of Science rankings. Seven of the scientists at the Laboratory Complex of BAS are among the top scientists in the world according to the Stanford University ranking.
