The launch of the ProSkills2Work – Progressing Promising Skills to Work in Bulgaria project was announced on 19 March. This large-scale initiative for BAS with a budget of almost 2.5 million euros and a 5-year timeframe is funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme. The project builds the research capacity of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology (IPS), increases its international scientific visibility and its potential to attract project funding. ProSkills2Work is expected to bring Bulgarian research in the field of sociology of education and labour to a world level, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Christian Imdorf from the University of Hannover who has joined the IPS team for five years.
The official opening took place at the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at BAS (NAIM) in the presence of more than 100 guests representing the stakeholders and partners of IPS on the important topic of the forms and effectiveness of the transition from vocational education to professional realization. Among the participants were members of the leadership of BAS, the Representation of the European Commission in Sofia, representatives of BAS institutes and their projects under Horizon Europe and the European Research Area (ERA), government institutions, employers’ organizations, trade unions, representatives of the Swiss and Austrian embassies, human resources specialists.
The project focuses on in-depth research on occupational skills formation, lifelong learning, the transition from education to employment and workplace learning. Special attention will be paid to the methodological challenges in studying these processes in the social and economic context of Bulgaria and the region. Information about the ProSkills2Work project can be found on the website of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS
