A working meeting on the project "Infrastructure for Sustainable Development of Marine Research Including the Participation of Bulgaria in the European Infrastructure EURO-ARGO-MASRI" was held on 13 January 2026 at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute of Oceanology - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
On behalf of the Institute of Oceanology - BAS, the meeting was attended by Prof. Dr. Valentina Todorova - Director, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Preslav Peev - Deputy Director for International Affairs, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marina D. Panayotova - Scientific Secretary. Medical University–Varna was represented by Prof.
Todorka Kostadinova – Director of Accreditation, Quality and Project Activities Directorate, and Prof. Dr. Dimitar Stavrev, Deputy Coordinator of MASRI for MU-Varna.
The meeting acknowledged the long-standing and beneficial partnership between the two institutions in the field of marine sciences. The prospects for future joint research on current marine science topics were discussed, along with opportunities for cooperation in the publication of scientific materials in print and on-line.
The project "Infrastructure for Sustainable Development of Marine Research Including the Participation of Bulgaria in the European Infrastructure EURO-ARGO-MASRI" is a part of the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructure (2020-2027) of the Republic of Bulgaria. MASRI is targeted at building and utilizing state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure that will provide a foundation for highly effective marine research, expand knowledge of the marine environment, and support blue growth, maritime policy, and maritime spatial planning. The project directly contributes to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
Since 2009 Medical University – Varna has been one of the initiators of the establishment of a consortium of marine scientific institutions, which in the subsequent stage has evolved into the MASRI project. The University boasts a well-established team of scientists, consisting of two professors, one associate professor, two chief assistant professors, and more than thirty young scientists, mainly students involved in research on marine medicine. The outcomes of this activities have been presented at numerous scientific forums in Bulgaria and abroad, with publications including dozens of scientific articles, as well as several monographs and teaching aids.
