DECLARATION of the Eighth General Assembly of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- Published on
Regarding the budget subsidy envisaged for BAS for 2022
The General Assembly of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences expresses its indignation at the size of the budget subsidy envisaged for the Academy for 2022. This political decision places the scholars working at BAS last in the country's system of education and science.
By Council of Ministers Decree No. 371 of 17.12.2020, a minimum monthly salary of BGN 1,300 was set for the lowest academic position, "assistant", in state higher education institutions. By comparison, the minimum salary of an assistant at BAS in 2021 is BGN 946, i.e. 72% of the remuneration of a colleague in the same position at a state higher education institution. Moreover, the basic salary of a professor at BAS is lower than the basic salary of an assistant at a state higher education institution!
The discrimination against the Academy continues in the budget subsidy envisaged for 2022, which will once again discourage young people from choosing a professional career at BAS. Young people are unwilling to pursue one of the most demanding careers and, after 15–20 years of persistent work, to receive less than the average salary for the country.
Despite the strategic documents that have been adopted, the state continues to fail to honour its commitments to reach the target levels of funding for research and development as a percentage of GDP.
BAS upholds its authority as the leading research organisation in the country. According to the 2020 report of the Standing Expert Committee for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Research Activity in Higher Education Institutions and Research Organisations, the Academy ranked first in the criteria of scientific results and their scientific impact, including patent activity; the social and economic impact of research activity; and in the overall assessment of research activity. BAS generates nearly 40% of the country's scientific output, and the publications of its scholars have a wide international resonance, as measured by tens of thousands of independent citations. In the 2020 ranking of Stanford University, 25 of the researchers working at BAS were among the top two per cent of the most influential scientists in the world, and in 2021 their number was 41. This unambiguously demonstrates the high standing of the Academy's scholars in the global scientific community and their worthy role in science on an international scale.
In recent years BAS has attracted additional funding comparable in size to the state subsidy it receives. For 2020 the subsidy was BGN 107,142,627, and the additional funds were BGN 95,275,197, of which about 30% came from EU programmes, from projects financed by European structural and investment funds or from other foreign sources. However, everyone working in the field of science and innovation knows that these are funds with a strictly defined purpose and allocation, which cannot cover the deficit in scholars' remuneration.
BAS consistently supports the state with its expert capacity: it maintains 14 monitoring networks relating to seismic conditions, the state of the ionosphere and the radiation background, the Black Sea, etc.; it participates in national and international expert bodies, and in the preparation of strategic documents and expert opinions. BAS is an integral part of solving the problems of
society, especially in crisis situations. A striking example of this is the participation of key BAS experts in managing the current Covid-19 crisis.
The role of the Academy is also key in the implementation of the national scientific programmes and the National Roadmap for Scientific Infrastructure, and in the establishment of the Centres of Excellence and Centres of Competence, where BAS successfully partners with higher education institutions. These are long-term strategic facilities in which enormous funds are invested in scientific infrastructure. However, owing to the systematic underfunding of human potential, there is a real danger that they will be left without researchers and engineering staff, i.e. without the creators of science and ideas!
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen in government, we call upon you for urgent dialogue – before the scholars of BAS undertake long-term and effective protest actions.