New Head of the National Science Fund - Meet Academician Wladimir Ovtschatoff

Even though the cabinet resigned, it managed one last decision.

In an order dated yesterday, the brand new minister of science and education (and youth) appointed a new head of the National Science Fund. Member of the Academy Wladimir Ovtschatoff (pictured to the left) is the new head of the Fund for the next two years.

Prof. Ovtscharoff (he worked at several German universities back in the 70's, hence the German spelling) has an impressive biography. Born in 1940, he graduated from the Medical Academy in the mid-1960's and spent his life teaching and doing research mainly at his Alma Mater (which changed names and organizational structures several times though his life). He did a postdoc in Germany in 1971-72 and later was a visiting scientist in Ulm and Munich in the 1990s. Between 1999 and 2008 he was a provost of the Medical Academy, where he established the department of Public Health. At the same time, in 2004 he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy. Later in 2012, he was elected a full member. He formally retired in 2010, however he continues to teach at the Medical University and at the Medical Department of Sofia University. He is a co-author to over 200 scientific publications, over 200 conference proceedings and 33 textbooks. Scopus finds only ~100 of these, but I'm not sure how well medical citations are represented in such databases (and shockingly only 10 have over 10 citations). His work is in the fields of neuroscience, neuro-morphology, synapseс, development of the central nervous system, gender differences in the central nervous system, cell biology, cell membranes, cardiovascular system, motor skills. He is a member of a long list of professional organizations (including the Bulgarian Badminton Union) and a recipient of an even longer list of awards. He has held a number of positions throughout the Bulgarian Academy of Science, the (now disbanded) Attestation Committee and the National Science Fund. He is outspoken on topics of public health and health care in Bulgaria.

The new National Science Fund leadership seems to pass the low bar of competence set by the previous gang. The former head of the Fund -- Hristo Petrov -- was a lawyer with an administrative background and zero experience in science and science management.  The former head of the executive board -- Rangel Gurov was .... well, it is kind-a difficult to explain... a quack geologist? Yup. According to the law, all members of the board and the Fund director need to be currently faculty at Bulgarian institutions and thus it is unsurprising that no foreign members were invited. Still, the real test to the new leadership (to the extent to which people in the small scientific community of Bulgaria can be "new") will be their handling of the mismanaged 2012 proposal session and addressing the need for a new law to govern the work of the Fund. Considering that they are all members of the Bulgarian scientific elite, don't hold your breath for ground-breaking changes.

[Also, is Bulgarian science run by ... how do I say this nicely... "an emeritus club" or is it just my imagination?]