1. Education in Particle and Nuclear Physics
Georgi Rainovski

2. Historical remarks Prof. Dr Elizaveta Karamihailova (1897 – 1968)
1917 – 1920 – studied physics in Vienna;
1920 – 1922 – PhD student at the Radium institute, Vienna;
1921 – 1934 – researcher at the Radium institute, Vienna;
1935 – 1938 – researcher at the Cavendish Laboratory;
1939 – Assoc. Prof. at the University of Sofia;
first female professor in Sofia University
1946 – founder of the department of Atomic physics;
1955 – professor at the Institute of Physics, BAS;
Founder of experimental nuclear physics research in Bulgaria
Academic staff:
1946 – 2;
1963 – department of Atomic physics is founded at the University of Plovdiv;
1965 – 1970 – 20-25;
1976 – the department is split → department of Optics and spectroscopy;
1980 – 1984 – 50;
1984 – the department is split → department of Nuclear engineering;
 1988 – 40;
2017 – 15;

3. NPP in Bulgarian universities
Population 7.15 million (2015) universities (38 state/14 private)
BSc degree:
Astronomy, Meteorology, Medical physics and radioecology, Physics, Physics (teachers);
MSc degree:
Astrophysics, Medical physics, Meteorology;
Staff related to NPP:
3 Assoc. Professors
Sofia
Plovdiv
BSc degree:
Physics, Meteorology, Applied optics;
MSc degree:
Energy and environment, Energy management, Nuclear and Particle Physics;
Staff related to NPP: 1 Assoc. Professors

4. University of Plovdiv "Paisii Hilendarski"
Faculty of Physics
BSc programs:
Engineering physics;
Telecommunications and information physics;
Physics and mathematics;
Telematics;
Physics and astronomy;
Industrial physics;
Management in telecommunications;
MSc programs:
Medical physics;
Subatomic physics;
Condensed matter physics;
Physics of foods;
Electronics and laser techniques;
Photonics and modern optic;
Optophotonics;
Telematics;
Geophysics;
Econophysics;
Renewable energy and energy efficiency technology
Information and communication systems;
Investment management in telecommunications;
Teachers in physics;
Staff related to NPP:
Department of Optics, Atomic and Theoretical physics
1 Professor, 2 Assoc. professors and 2 Assist. professors
High-energy physics;
photonuclear reactions and neutron-induced reactions;
- and neutron-activation analysis;
radioecology;
JINR (Dubna, Russia), CERN

5. Sofia Two big centers Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
BSc, MSc, PhD
Institute of Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy at BAS
only PhD
Technical University Sofia
Thermal Engineering and Nuclear Power Engineering
engineers (BSc, MSc, PhD)

6. Sofia University, Faculty of Physics
Biggest and oldest university in Bulgaria
founded 1888
Covers practically all scientific fields
16 faculties
2700 staff
students
Faculty of Physics
Academic staff  120
13 Departments
12 BSc programs
18 MSc programs
Students  500

7. Sofia University, Faculty of Physics
MSc programs:
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Theoretical and Mathematical Physics
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy and Popularization of Astronomy
Geophysics
Meteorology
Medical Physics
Nuclear Technique and Technologies
Quantum Electronics and Lasers Technique
Microelectronics and Information Technologies
Communication and Computer Equipment
Communications and Physical Electronics
Wireless Network and Devices
Aerospace engineering and communications
Methodology of Physics and Astronomy
Optics and Spectroscopy
Cosmic Research
Fusion Science and Technology
Solid Nanotechnology
Optometry
BSc programs:
Physics
Engineering Physics
Nuclear Technology and Nuclear Power Engineering
Astrophysics, Meteorology and Geophysics
Medical Physics
Physics and Mathematics
Physics and Informatics
Communications and physical electronics
Quantum, Space and Theoretical physics
Optometry
Photonics and laser physics
Nuclear and Particle Physics (in English)
Nuclear and particle physics
Department of Atomic physics
Nuclear Engineering and technologies
Department of Nuclear Engineering

8. Sofia University, Faculty of Physics
Courses on Nuclear and Particle physics for Bachelor students
Atomic physics and interaction of the ionizing radiation with mater;
Introductory Nuclear and Particle physics;
Experimental nuclear physics;
Theoretical nuclear physics;
Dosimetry and radiation protection;
Nuclear electronics;
Nuclear reactions;
Radiation biophysics and radiation protection;
Introduction in particle physics;
Introduction in particle physics theory;
Quantum field theory;
Group theory;
Gauge theory;
Optional
offer early specialization
(3rd & 4th year)

9. Sofia University, Faculty of Physics
Courses on Nuclear and Particle physics for Master students
Nuclear and particle physics
Standard model Symmetries in particle physics
Nuclear models
Nuclear structure
Modeling of physical processes
Theory of nuclear reactions
Natural radioactivity and radioecology
Nuclear electronics – 2
Object oriented programming
Theoretical astrophysics
Radiochemistry
Moessbauer effect and spectroscopy
Radiation biophysics
Modern problems in nuclear physics
Introduction to high performance computing
Weak interactions of elementary particles
Supersymmetry, quantum deformations and models of interacting systems
Introduction to string and superstring theory
Automation of the physical experiment
Physics beyond the Standard Model
Medical physics
Image reconstruction and analysis in medicine
Physical basics of X-ray and radionuclide diagnostics
Clinical dosimetry
Dosimetry and radiation protection
Radiation biophysics
Metrology of ionizing radiation
MRI tomography
Physical methods in medicine
Nuclear physics methods in medicine
Monte-Carlo simulations of ionizing particle- mater interactions
Natural radioactivity and radioecology
Diploma thesis (one semester)
Requirement – to contain a part of a real scientific investigation (in house research or projects from international schools including CERN summer school, JINR, GSI etc.)
 to participate in scientific investigations from the very beginning of their master degree study;

10. Sofia University, Faculty of Physics
Laboratories
Atomic and Nuclear physics;
Experimental Nuclear physics;
Dosimetry and radiation protection;
Natural and low radiation;
Metrology of ionizing radiation;
Nuclear electronics;
Particle physics;
Biophysics;
Medical physics;
Computational physics;
Grid computing and particle physics;
High performance computing;
CMS center;
Old and obsolete infrastructure and equipment!

11. Sofia University, Faculty of Physics
Department of Atomic physics
Academic staff and scientific specialization
Nuclear physics
3 Professors
3 Assoc. Professors
2 Assist. Professors
Particle physics
1 Professor
4 Assoc. Professors
2 Assist. Professors
Atomic, Molecular and Computational physics
1 Professor emer.
1 Assist. Professor
Average age 48
Teaching responsibilities
Directly responsible for
– BSc & MSc programs “Nuclear and Particle Physics” and “Medical physics”;
– General education in the field of Atomic, Nuclear and Particle physics;
Strongly involved in the programs related to nuclear engineering;
2010 – 2017:
Bachelor students:
- Nuclear and Particle physics: 5-7 graduates/year;
- Medical physics 8-10 graduates/year;
Master students:
- Nuclear and particle physics: 2-3 graduates/year;
- Medical physics: 4-6 graduates/year;

12. Funding for BSc\MSc education Subsidy/(year student) = 814 €
Basic principle “Money follows the student”  in the period 2001 – 2014 the government subsidy depended solely on the number of students!
BC - Basic cost / student: depends on the national budget – 0.3%-0.4% GDP  354 €
Subsidy/year = BC  Ksa  NS
Ksa - Subject area coefficients (before 2014):
“1.0” – pedagogy, economics, business administration, tourism, …;
“1.6” – humanities and social sciences (history, philosophy, law, …);
“2.3” – physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, informatics, technical engineering…;
“4.3” – agricultural science;
“5.3” – fine and performing arts;
“6.2” – sports;
“7.8” – national security;
“9.4” – human medicine and pharmacy;
“10.57” – military science;
Physics:
Subsidy/(year student) = 814 €
NS - number of students at the Physics Faculty, Sofia University
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
BSc students (1st year)
135
140
122 92
101 80
BSc students (total)
423
410
377
329
294
278
MSc students (1st year) 64 23 42 31 36
MSc students (total)
105 52 65 59
Total
528
462
442
394
353
358
Annual deficit of 55% - 60%

13. Funding for BSc\MSc education Subsidy/year = Q  BC  Ksa  NS
2014: the Ksa increased to additional coefficients accounting for the performance;
2016: new Higher Education Act (law)
Subsidy/year = Q  BC  Ksa  NS
Q – quality coefficient:
Demand-driven factors:
Unemployment among graduates;
Applicability of degree acquired and realization by vocation;
Graduates' social security insurance income;
Anticipated future shortages in the labor market;
Performance-based factors:
The accreditation of a university;
Science and research – papers in journals with impact factors, citations, PhD programs;
Position in Bulgarian University Ranking System;
Physics (Faculty of Physics, Sofia University):
Q = 1.49 (highest in the country is 1.51 for informatics and computing)
A positive expectation: the relative weight of Q in the subsidy will increase
25% , 50% , 60%

14. Sofia University & INRNE
PhD degree
Sofia University & INRNE
A study based on independent scientific investigation
Duration – 3 years + prolongation of 1 year without stipendium;
PhD thesis based on original scientific results
- at least 1 publication in international journal with impact factor;
- at least 1 publication in conference proceedings;
PhD students in Nuclear physics, Particle Physics an related fields 2010 – 2017:
Admitted
Active
Graduated
SU Faculty of physics 22 8 10
INRNE 19 9 7
Our research activities at CERN, JINR, GSI and other laboratories abroad are of utmost importance for attracting PhD students and maintaining high standards for awarding PhD degree!
Main problem: an extremely low, lesser than the minimum wage for Bulgaria ( 230 €), stipendium!
 most of the prospective PhD students leave the country
Additional sources (EU operational programs, NSF grants, support from the industry) for supporting PhD students are available but are severely limited and not sustainable.

15. But the overall tendency is clearly negative!
Conclusions
We are in a stage of “survival” …
we are still able to produce well educated physicists in the field of Nuclear and Particle physics who successfully continue their careers at scientific institutions in Bulgaria or abroad and in the industry;
our scientific production in the field of Nuclear and Particle physics is significant and internationally well recognized;
But the overall tendency is clearly negative!
The hope – the new policy for funding the university (in place since 2016) education …. how long it will take to see positive results?