Editing Bulgaria (section)

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|Science and technology in Bulgaria}}
[[File:BulgariaSat-1 Mission (35491530485).jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching BulgariaSat-1 in June 2017|The launch of BulgariaSat-1 by SpaceX]]

Spending on [[research and development]] amounts to 0.78% of GDP,{{Sfn|NSI Brochure|2018|page=19}} and the bulk of public R&D funding goes to the [[Bulgarian Academy of Sciences]] (BAS).<ref name="EUpresidency">{{cite web |url=https://www.novinite.com/articles/188930/EU+Presidency+Puts+Lagging+Bulgarian+Science+in+the+Spotlight |title=EU Presidency Puts Lagging Bulgarian Science in the Spotlight |publisher=[[Novinite]] |date=22 March 2018 |access-date=14 July 2018 |archive-date=15 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715011433/https://www.novinite.com/articles/188930/EU+Presidency+Puts+Lagging+Bulgarian+Science+in+the+Spotlight |url-status=live }}</ref> Private businesses accounted for more than 73% of R&D expenditures and employed 42% of Bulgaria's 22,000 researchers in 2015.<ref name="R&D spending">{{cite web |url=https://www.novinite.com/articles/177126/R%26D+Spending+in+Bulgaria+Up+in+2015%2C+Mostly+Driven+by+Businesses |title=R&D Spending in Bulgaria Up in 2015, Mostly Driven by Businesses |publisher=[[Novinite]] |date=31 October 2016 |access-date=14 July 2018 |archive-date=2 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202160330/https://www.novinite.com/articles/177126/R%26D+Spending+in+Bulgaria+Up+in+2015%2C+Mostly+Driven+by+Businesses |url-status=live }}</ref> The same year, Bulgaria ranked 39th out of 50 countries in the [[Bloomberg Innovation Index]], the highest score being in education (24th) and the lowest in value-added manufacturing (48th).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-innovative-countries/ |title=The 2015 Bloomberg Innovation Index |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |publisher=Bloomberg |access-date=14 July 2018 |archive-date=25 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225075316/https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-innovative-countries/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Bulgaria was ranked 38th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Wunsch-Vincent |first1=Sacha |last2=León |first2=Lorena Rivera |last3=Lanvin |first3=Bruno |last4=Dutta |first4=Soumitra |date=2024 |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/assets/67729/2000%20Global%20Innovation%20Index%202024_WEB3lite.pdf |access-date=25 February 2025 |website=World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)}}</ref> Chronic government underinvestment in research since 1990 has forced many professionals in science and engineering to leave Bulgaria.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shopov |first1=V. |title=The impact of the European scientific area on the 'Brain leaking' problem in the Balkan countries |journal=Nauka |date=2007 |issue=1/2007}}</ref>
[[File:Rozhen_dome_3.jpg|thumb|Tower of the {{convert|200|cm|0|abbr=on}} telescope at the [[Rozhen Observatory]].]]
Despite the lack of funding, research in chemistry, [[materials science]] and [[physics]] remains strong.<ref name="EUpresidency" /> Antarctic research is actively carried out through the [[St. Kliment Ohridski Base]] on [[Livingston Island]] in [[Western Antarctica]].<ref>[https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=105044 St. Kliment Ohridski Base.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319060854/https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=105044 |date=19 March 2014 }} SCAR [[Composite Antarctic Gazetteer]]</ref><ref>Ivanov, Lyubomir (2015). [http://livingston-island.weebly.com/ General Geography and History of Livingston Island.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708084208/http://livingston-island.weebly.com/ |date=8 July 2015 }} In: ''Bulgarian Antarctic Research: A Synthesis''. Eds. C. Pimpirev and N. Chipev. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press. pp. 17–28. {{ISBN|978-954-07-3939-7}}</ref> The [[information and communication technologies]] (ICT) sector generates three per cent of economic output and employs 40,000<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/f9a35122-44f4-11e6-9b66-0712b3873ae1 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/f9a35122-44f4-11e6-9b66-0712b3873ae1 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Bulgaria strives to become tech capital of the Balkans |newspaper=The Financial Times |first=Kerin |last=Hope |date=17 October 2016 |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref> to 51,000 software engineers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bta.bg/en/c/DF/id/1762498 |title=Bulgaria's ICT Sector Turnover Trebled over Last Seven Years – Deputy Economy Minister |publisher=Bulgarian Telegraph Agency |date=12 March 2018 |access-date=15 July 2018 |archive-date=17 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117174213/http://www.bta.bg/en/c/DF/id/1762498 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bulgaria was known as a "Communist [[Silicon Valley]]" during the Soviet era due to its key role in [[COMECON]] computing technology production.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.delta.tudelft.nl/article/great-bulgarian-braindrain |title=The Great Bulgarian BrainDrain |publisher=Delft Technical University |first=David |last=McMullin |date=2 October 2003 |access-date=15 July 2018 |archive-date=17 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117174215/https://www.delta.tudelft.nl/article/great-bulgarian-braindrain |url-status=live }}</ref> A concerted effort by the communist government to teach computing and IT skills in schools also indirectly made Bulgaria a major source of [[computer virus]]es in the 1980s and 90s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Petrov |first=Victor |date=30 September 2021 |title=Socialist Cyborgs |url=https://logicmag.io/kids/socialist-cyborgs/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917195506/https://logicmag.io/kids/socialist-cyborgs/ |archive-date=17 September 2021}}</ref> The country is a regional leader in [[supercomputer|high performance computing]]: it operates ''Avitohol'', the most powerful supercomputer in Southeast Europe, and will host one of the eight [[petascale computing|petascale]] [[European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking|EuroHPC]] supercomputers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.capital.bg/biznes/tehnologii_i_nauka/2018/06/22/3203630_shum_tok_i_superkompjutri/ |script-title=bg:Малката изчислителна армия на България |trans-title=Bulgaria's small computing army |publisher=Kapital Daily |first=Yoan |last=Zapryanov |date=22 June 2018 |access-date=15 July 2018 |language=bg |archive-date=17 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117174209/https://www.capital.bg/biznes/tehnologii_i_nauka/2018/06/22/3203630_shum_tok_i_superkompjutri/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-2868_en.htm |title=Digital Single Market: Europe announces eight sites to host world-class supercomputers |publisher=European Commission |date=7 June 2019 |access-date=15 August 2019 |archive-date=11 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811230320/https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-2868_en.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Bulgaria has made numerous contributions to [[space exploration]].<ref name="Interkosmos">{{cite book |last1=Burgess |first1=Colin |last2=Vis |first2=Bert |title=Interkosmos: The Eastern Bloc's Early Space Program |publisher=Springer |pages=247–250 |year=2016 |isbn=978-3-319-24161-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MG__CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA247 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115223024/https://books.google.com/books?id=MG__CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA247 |url-status=live }}</ref> These include two scientific satellites, more than 200 payloads and 300 experiments in Earth orbit, as well as [[Bulgarian cosmonaut program|two cosmonauts]] since 1971.<ref name="Interkosmos" /> Bulgaria was the first country to grow [[wheat]] [[Plants in space|in space]] with its [[SVET plant growth system|Svet]] [[greenhouse]]s on the [[Mir space station]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.novinite.com/articles/127387/Cosmonauts+Eager%2C+Hopeful+for+Reboot+of+Bulgaria%27s+Space+Program |title=Cosmonauts Eager, Hopeful for Reboot of Bulgaria's Space Program |publisher=[[Novinite]] |date=17 April 2011 |access-date=15 July 2018 |archive-date=15 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815055331/https://www.novinite.com/articles/127387/Cosmonauts+Eager%2C+Hopeful+for+Reboot+of+Bulgaria%27s+Space+Program |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ivanova |first1=Tanya |title=Six-month space greenhouse experiments—a step to creation of future biological life support systems |journal=Acta Astronautica |date=1998 |volume=42 |issue=1–8 |pages=11–23 |doi=10.1016/S0094-5765(98)00102-7 |pmid=11541596 |bibcode=1998AcAau..42...11I}}</ref> It was involved in the development of the [[Granat]] [[Gamma-ray astronomy|gamma-ray observatory]]<ref name="RESS" /> and the [[Vega program]]me, particularly in modelling trajectories and guidance [[algorithms]] for both Vega probes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dimitrova |first=Milena |title=Златните десятилетия на българската електроника |trans-title=The Golden Decades of Bulgarian Electronics |publisher=Trud |pages=257–258 |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jqJ6Ocql0XIC&pg=PA257 |isbn=9789545288456 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115223025/https://books.google.com/books?id=jqJ6Ocql0XIC&pg=PA257 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Badescu |first1=Viorel |last2=Zacny |first2=Kris |title=Inner Solar System: Prospective Energy and Material Resources |publisher=Springer |page=276 |year=2015 |isbn=978-3-319-19568-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrAYCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA276 |access-date=28 July 2018 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115223025/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrAYCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA276 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bulgarian instruments have been used in the [[exploration of Mars]], including a spectrometer that took the first high quality [[spectroscopy|spectroscopic]] images of Martian moon [[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]] with the [[Phobos 2]] probe.<ref name="Interkosmos" /><ref name="RESS">{{cite book |last1=Harland |first1=David M. |last2=Ulivi |first2=Paolo |title=Robotic Exploration of the Solar System: Part 2: Hiatus and Renewal, 1983–1996 |publisher=Springer |page=155 |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-387-78904-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dZyaAAVwg5QC&pg=PA155 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115223025/https://books.google.com/books?id=dZyaAAVwg5QC&pg=PA155 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Cosmic ray|Cosmic radiation]] en route to and around the planet has been mapped by [[Liulin type instruments|Liulin-ML]] dosimeters on the [[ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter|ExoMars TGO]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Semkova |first1=Jordanka |last2=Dachev |first2=Tsvetan |title=Radiation environment investigations during ExoMars missions to Mars – objectives, experiments and instrumentation |journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie Bulgare des Sciences |date=2015 |volume=47 |issue=25 |pages=485–496 |url=https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:47073133 |access-date=6 August 2018 |issn=1310-1331 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308141639/https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:47073133 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[RADOM-7|Variants of these instruments]] have also been fitted on the [[International Space Station]] and the [[Chandrayaan-1]] lunar probe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isro.org/chandrayaan/htmls/radom_bas.htm |title=Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment (RADOM) |publisher=ISRO |access-date=20 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119044239/http://www.isro.org/chandrayaan/htmls/radom_bas.htm |archive-date=19 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dachev |first1=Ts. |last2=Dimitrov |first2=Pl. |last3=Tomov |first3=B. |last4=Matviichuk |first4=Yu. |last5=Spurny |first5=F. |last6=Ploc |first6=O. |title=Liulin-type spectrometry-dosimetry instruments |journal=Radiation Protection Dosimetry |date=2011 |volume=144 |issue=1–4 |pages=675–679 |doi=10.1093/rpd/ncq506 |pmid=21177270 |issn=1742-3406}}</ref> Another lunar mission, [[SpaceIL]]'s ''Beresheet'', was also equipped with a Bulgarian-manufactured imaging payload.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dariknews.bg/novini/liubopitno/bylgarska-kamera-leti-kym-lunata-2155077 |title=Bulgarian Camera Flies to the Moon |publisher=Darik News |date=22 March 2019 |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330171924/https://dariknews.bg/novini/liubopitno/bylgarska-kamera-leti-kym-lunata-2155077 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bulgaria's first [[Geosynchronous satellite|geostationary communications satellite]]—[[BulgariaSat-1]]—was launched by [[SpaceX]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spacex.com/news/2017/06/23/bulgariasat-1-mission |title=BulgariaSat-1 Mission |publisher=SpaceX |access-date=15 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117174220/https://www.spacex.com/news/2017/06/23/bulgariasat-1-mission |archive-date=17 November 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>