Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

Research and non-governmental organizations may apply to competitions from sub-programmes "Socio-economic Sciences and Arts”, “Science in Society” of the Seventh Framework Programme. The total amount of the funds is 120 million euros. The deadline for submission of the proposals for projects under “Science in Society" is January 20, 2011, and for the "Socio-economic Sciences and Arts"- February 2, 2011. Possibilities for inclusion of Bulgarian representatives were presented at the Information Day, organized by Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, together with the Ministry of Education and Science and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The competition on "Socio-economic Sciences and Arts " is for projects worth 76 million euros.  Activities that show how science and technology stimulate innovation in the economy will be financed. In this area will be accepted suggestions for lifelong learning, which will help Europeans to find a suitable job for them; innovative approaches to employment, combat poverty and address global needs for food. One of the subtopics is the study and analysis of new types of criminal behavior and drug addiction as important social trends in Europe.

The Work Programme "Science in Society” in 2011 will have 43.3 million. One of the themes of the projects, which will be financed is changing the way of science is taught in European schools.  The aim is to implement at an early age more creative approach in teaching and learning of science and mathematics based on curiosity and exploration. Under the announced competitions there will be a chance to analyze the opportunities and risks of using the Internet and social networks for communication between scientists and society.

For the 2007-2010 period under “Science in Society" were announced nine contests. Four of them were open in 2010, 1 in 2009, 2 in 2008 and 2 in 2007. The number of participating organizations is 97. Of the 90 projects submitted, 8 were approved. The total funding for Bulgarian participants for the period 2007 - 2010 is 750 000 euros.