The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics

The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IMI-BAS), established in 1947, is a leading center for research and training of highly qualified specialists. It pursues a focused, long-term, and consistent policy aligned with the main trends in the development of fundamental research in mathematics, computer science, and information technologies. The staff of IMI-BAS is organized into 10 scientific sections and two research laboratories. They work on 16 internal institutional projects funded by the BAS budget, and 18 projects funded by the National Science Fund. Internationally, 2 projects are funded under Horizon Europe, 2 by the Simons Foundation International, and 1 by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Through inter-academy agreements, 5 additional projects receive funding. IMI-BAS colleagues participate in 3 Erasmus+ projects and 4 COST projects. Ten permanent research seminars operate within the institute. IMI-BAS publishes four scientific and scientific-methodological journals. Its researchers produce over 300 scholarly works each year, of which more than 280 appear in peer-reviewed journals and collections. Thanks to the high professionalism of its staff, IMI-BAS is integrated into the global scientific community and enjoys well-deserved respect. Each year, the institute organizes over 60 international scientific conferences, seminars, or schools, both domestically and abroad. It also conducts active educational activities with PhD students, master’s and bachelor’s students, and high-school students with exceptional abilities in mathematics and computer science.

The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is actively engaged in scientific and applied research within 12 projects funded by the Ministry of Education and Science, including 3 national infrastructure complexes listed in the National Roadmap and 3 under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan.

The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is closely integrated into CLaDA-BG as a technological partner. Within CLaDA-BG, IMI-BAS participates through a highly qualified team from the “Mathematical Linguistics” section. The team’s current research and application work focuses on the development of digital infrastructure components, services, and resources. These efforts aim to introduce innovative, technology-supported methods for serving the needs of the humanities and social sciences—providing new ways to access knowledge about cultural objects, generating tools and resources for improved access to Bulgarian cultural heritage (including large data sets and intelligent data/knowledge management), and so on. All activities are synchronized with related European infrastructures. Under CLaDA-BG, the team is responsible for creating, integrating, and enhancing digital environments for managing cultural content (for example, the CultIS platform, multimedia digital libraries, virtual museums, archives, etc.). These environments include applications and services for personalized, adaptive, and context-based access to resources; services for ubiquitous delivery and sharing of cultural assets; tools for analysis and synthesis of items within multimedia digital libraries; and e-learning solutions through and for cultural heritage. The team’s work concentrates on fundamental research and applied development in the following areas: data management; data processing; data analytics; data mining; data visualization; information sharing; information retrieval; knowledge discovery; content filtering by similarity; and related services. These are deployed in heterogeneous environments for managing digital cultural content, distributed multimedia platforms, digital culture ecosystems, and so forth. In 2024, the first open-source version of the CultIS system was published and is available on GitHub. Current deployments of the CultIS platform—supported by CLaDA-BG—include: the Digital Library of the National Library “Ivan Vazov”, the Digital Library of the Central Library of BAS, the Virtual Encyclopedia of Bulgarian Iconography, the Digital Library of the Regional Library “Peyo Yavorov” (Burgas), Encyclopaedia Slavica Sanctorum and others.