Networking as a Tool for Integration of Young Bulgarian Scientific Community in Europe

Nadia Koltcheva, Marina Encheva, Fanny Koleva

Abstract

The paper gives an insight into the mechanisms of successful functioning of the virtual network PhDGate developed in 2003 by the Association of Doctoral Students in Bulgaria. It reveals the potential of networking through the Internet as a tool for integration of young Bulgarian scientific community to the European Research Area. The intensive communication between researchers from academic institutions in Bulgaria and Europe by means of modern technologies overcomes not only the information deficits but also other kind of barriers and contributes to the quality of Bulgarian scientific production. It is therefore a prerequisite for effective incorporation of young scientists from Bulgaria to the tendencies of modern European science and a promising perspective for inverting the process of “brain drain”. In connection to this very actual and significant information on the usage and dynamics of the virtual network PhDGate is presented as well as а valuable statistical data based on authoritative external sources is analyzed.