In January the Rector’s Office at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and the Center for Quality Management at the University invited all academics, whose projects were awarded the Quality Mark of Sofia University in 2024, to apply for a contest organized by the international university alliance Transform4Europe. Thus, Sofia University took part in the prestigious competition format with 4 nominations.

Altogether 45 candidates from 11 European universities applied for the Transform4Europe Innovative Teaching award. Assoc. Prof. Pelova submitted her nomination within an innovative teaching model. The model was given a total score of 76 points out of 83, which ranked the proposal among the 4 winning projects in this contest. The awarded prize distinguishes the leading role of Alma Mater in the development and implementation of innovative teaching practices that impact society. It is an international recognition of the quality of the results achieved to date.

Assoc. Prof. Boryana Pelova launched her work on the development of the innovative teaching model as well as on the methodology for its practical implementation 9 years ago. At that time the FEBA Career Center was established and as its director she has been actively working to bridge the gap between academia and business. Among the various connecting activities, she introduced an innovative teaching model aimed to deliver synergy between theory, science, and development of applied problem-solving skills via integration of real-life case studies, developed in collaboration with leading business in Bulgaria.

Up to date, the teaching model is well defined into 7 distinct steps and is given the name „GOALS for Future-Ready Professionals: A Transformative Learning Model“. The model enables students to develop a large spectrum of analytical, technical, and soft skills, while it assures in-depth theoretical learning. The model is currently applied both in Bachelor and Master courses.

Furthermore, significant parts of the innovative teaching methodology have already been adapted and successfully implemented at Coding Burgas – an affiliated high school to Sofia University. This happens within the project “Symbiosis for the Future: Science, Business, and Vocational Education for Technological Advancement” – a joint initiative between FEBA, the branch of Sofia University in Burgas, and Coding Burgas. The project is supported by the Mayor of Burgas and by Schwarz IT Bulgaria – the major partner of FEBA in the AI field.

In November 2024 the joint initiative was awarded by the Rectors’ Office and by the Center for Quality Management the Quality Mark of Sofia University in the competition category “Significant innovation”. In February 2025 “Symbiosis for Future” won the educational award of the Bulgarian IT Association, where altogether 12 educational institutions applied for the prestigious prize. Among them FEBA application together with Branch Burgas of Sofia University, and Coding Burgas, was recognized.

Assoc. Prof. Pelova expressed her gratitude to her colleagues and partners with the following acknowledgement letter.

“The Transform4Europe Innovative Teaching Award is not just a personal recognition. It acknowledges the potential of our environment. I mean not only the academic environment, but also the community of partnering institutions and businesses. Every activity included in the GOALS model is related to hard, well synchronized teamwork with excellent professionals. I am honored to work together with my colleagues and partners, who share my vision for the future.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Teodor Sedlarski and Assoc. Prof. Atanas Georgiev, who trust in my bold innovative ideas and provide me a full support. I am grateful to all my colleagues and FEBA partners, who recognized the transformative role of the conceptual model and invested time and energy to make it happen. My special thanks are expressed to Mr. Damyan Iliev – Senior Finance Manager at Experian Bulgaria, who supports the implementation of GOALS at the Bachelor degree, and to Mr. Pencho Dobrev – Head of “Data&AI” department at Schwarz IT Bulgaria, who supports GOALS implementation at the Master degree as well as at Coding Burgas. Another special “Thank you!” goes to Assoc. Prof. Bozhidar Nedev for his vision and support within the Career Center. I am really grateful to our partners in city of Burgas – the team of Sofia University Branch in Burgas, the Municipality of Burgas, Mrs. Dimitrina Todorova - the Director of Coding Burgas as well as the teachers at Coding Burgas for their unconditional support.

I would conclude with my special thanks to the Rectors’ Office and the team of the Center for Quality Management at SU for the provided opportunity in support of innovations in high and higher education”.