THE CHOICE OF SCIENTIFIC CAREER

1. THE CHOICE OF SCIENTIFIC CAREER Bulgarian-German Conference “Bulgaria and the Lisbon strategy. Reform in educational system and changes in legislation for motivation of scientific career”, Park Hotel “Vitosha”, Sofia, Bulgaria Organized by the Institute for development and innovations of education and science IDIES and Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Sofia, 26-28 June 2008 Dr. Ognyan Tzanev

2. Human resources in science • Human resources in science is the fundament of a knowledge-based society • The scientists are the basic elementof human resources in science

3. Research on the choice of scientific career • The research is based on the method of the Focus-group • The positive influence on the choice of scientific career is connected with the creative nature of scientific activity • The positive influence on the choice of scientific career is especially in Bulgaria is connected with the close social environment

4. The Young Scientists:Some Problems and Solutions

5. The purpose is to define the main problems of the young scientists and to find possible solutions

6. This Studying Was Carried out by the Focus-groups method

7. Some problems of scientific career in Bulgaria– Under-financing and old necessary equipment– Difficult access to rare scientific literature – Constantly changes in the scientific legislation

8. Some problems of scientific career in Bulgaria– Insufficient information about PhD and scientific career – Lack of contacts between the young scientists – Brain drain

9. Some problems and their possible solutions– Problem: "Under-financing and old necessary equipment"– Possible solution: "Developing skills for writing a project“ – Problem: "Difficult access to rare scientific literature"– Possible solution: "Virtual scientific library"

10. – Problem: "Constantly changes in thescientific legislation"– Possible solution: "Consensual and steady scientific legislation“– Problem: "Insufficient information about PhD and scientific career" – Possible solution: "United official web-site"

11. – Problem: "Lack of contacts between the young scientists"– Possible solution: "PhD schools"– Problem: "Brain drain"– Possible solution: "Effective solutions for scientific career problems"

12. The missing middle age group of scientists in Bulgaria The missing middle age generation of scientists in Bulgaria is one additional problem. There is a gap in the age curve of scientists in Bulgaria and young scientists who begin their scientific career need a communication with the group of middle age scientists. Such communication would be of a great help for their choice of scientific career.

13. Development in science • The processes of integration and differentiation have positive influence onthe choice of scientific career • The interdisciplinary research in science also attracts young people forward scientific career

14. The future of science in Bulgaria It’s necessary to undertake a set of measures to solve the problems in scientific area in Bulgaria and to make it a real national priority.

15. THANKS FOR THE ATTENTION!