The University is the first school of higher education in Bulgaria.
Its history is an embodiment and a continuation of centuries of cultural and educational tradition in this country.
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Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski is the first institution of higher education in Bulgaria. The first step towards its foundation was the opening of a Course in Pedagogy at the First Secondary School for Boys in Sofia in 1887. Due to the success of this teacher-training course,the National Assembly issued a decree at the end of 1888, transforming the course into a School of Higher Education. In 1904 a decree by Prince Ferdinand turned it into a university that was given the name of St. Kliment Ohridski a year later.
For more than a century Sofia University has been the national foremost centre for university education and research in both fundamental theoretical and applied areas. Today it is the largest university in the country with 88 degree programmes offered by 16 faculties.
The first building of Sofia University was erected thanks to the donation of the brothers Evlogy and Christo Georgiev and today ranks among the most interesting buildings of the architectural heritage of Sofia. It spreads over a total of 36000 sq. metres and has 324 rooms, including 65 auditoriums with a total of 6000 seats.
Sofia University comprises: Faculty of Slavic Studies, Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology, Faculty of History, Faculty of Philosophy, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Preschool and Primary School Education, Faculty of Geology and Geography, Faculty of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, the Faculty of Chemistry, the Faculty of Biology, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Faculty of Theology, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Information and In-service Teacher Training, Department of Language Learning, Department of Sport, Germanikum Institute for German Studies, National Lyceum for Ancient Languages and Cultures St. Constantine-Cyril Philosopher, National Lyceum for Mathematics and Natural Science L. Chakalov.
A total of 25368 students have enrolled at Sofia University for the 2006/2007 academic year. 17511 of them enrolled at the Bachelor’s Programmes (16418 Bulgarian and 1093 international students) and 7857 students enrolled at the Master’s Programmes at Sofia University (7638 Bulgarian and 219 international students). There are 969 PhD students of whom 832 Bulgarian and 137 international.
The teaching staff includes a significant part of the best specialists in Bulgaria in all major areas of sciences and humanities. There are 1598 full-time lecturers employed. These are 2 Members and 4 corresponding Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 192 professors, 594 associate professors, 809 assistant professors, 2 senior research fellows and 1 lecturer. 209 of them have the higher doctoral degree of Dr. Habil. and 928 have a PhD degree.
Research is an integral part of the teaching process. It is fully supported yet not conducted by the Rector’s administration. Research is a prerequisite for keeping pace with the most recent developments in the respective areas for both the lecturers and university structures – laboratories, faculties, etc. The following figures (indicative for the period from 2001 to 2005) testify to intensive scientific development and integration between research and teaching practices:
• the research papers of various fields increased three times;
• number of conference and symposium participations in Bulgaria – more than 3638;
• number of conference and symposium participations abroad – more than 3579;
• number of publications:
– monographs – 712;
– textbooks, anthologies and readers, and reference materials – more than 1821;
– published papers, articles, and reviews – over 10 385;
• hundreds of ongoing joint international projects.
International relations have a special place in the University’s global strategy as they considerably stimulate research, and support and improve the quality of teaching. Sofia University has contracts with more than 80 universities of different countries, thus facilitating a wide variety of joint international projects and multilateral professional contacts with colleagues from all over the world.
During the academic 1999/2000 the University signed a contract to join the Socrates Programme of the European Commission. It has since held a leading position among universities in the country, with the highest rate of student and staff mobilities and the most significant contribution to the maintenance of European standards in higher education.
By signing the new Erasmus Charter in 2007 and the acceptance of Bulgaria in the European Union, the University will continue its active participation in the implementation of the opening new vistas educational programme of the EU Lifelong Learning.