The main areas of research activity of the lecturers in the Department are: cognitive and applied linguistics, comparative linguistics, theory and methodology of language teaching for special purposes, communication and communication skills in medical practice and health care.
Since 1998, the Department has been organising and holding, traditionally every three years, prestigious international theoretical and practical scientific conferences in applied linguistics in the following main areas:
- Foreign Language for Specific and Professional Purposes;
- Medical communication for healthcare specialists;
- Linguistic, Sociolinguistic, Psycholinguistic and Cultural Aspects of Specialist Language Teaching;
- New Technologies, Strategies and Approaches in Specialist Language Teaching.
- Career and professional development through foreign language;
Many foreign and Bulgarian linguists associate the Medical University of Varna with the following conferences:
- Languages for Specific Purposes: 150 participants from 14 countries with 110 papers in 5 sessions, 4-6 June 1998, Varna;
- Languages for Specific Purposes: 130 participants from 10 countries with 100 papers in 15 sessions, 8-10 June 2001, Varna;
- Language as the Means for Education, Research and Professional Development: 150 participants from 12 countries with 120 papers in 16 sessions, 10-14 June, 2004, Varna;
- The Language: a Phenomenon without Frontiers: 162 participants from 10 countries with 148 papers in 5 sections, June 12-14, 2008, Varna, 2008;
- Productive Language Skills for Academic Purposes: 141 participants from 8 countries with 132 papers in 7 sections, October 7-8, 2011, Varna, 2011;
- First Varna Conference on E-Learning and Knowledge Management. 2016, Varna;
- Foreign languages and the contemporary higher education conference, Varna, 2017;
- Second Varna Conference of E-Learning and Knowledge Management. Science and Education in the Digital Age. Varna, 2020;
- One Year Education in a Digital Environment – Sharing Best Practices in Language Learning and Sport. Varna, 2021.
- Xth Jubilee International Scientific Conference Language, science, communication and sports – 60 years of academic education, 2023.
The Department is a preferred partner for international and national projects. 6 international and 2 national projects have been successfully completed under the Tempus, Grundtvig, Leonardo, Human Resources Development and Erasmus+ programmes. Scientific, methodological and language training of our lecturers and 30 specialisations in Scotland, Germany, Spain, Finland, Turkey, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Czech Republic, etc. have been carried out successfully. The International Healthcare English and German Online Learning Project HELP2 – Healthcare Language Learning Programme (2018 - 2022) is the latest successfully implemented project.
