Higher Education for Smart Specialisation The Case of North Central Bulgaria Ruslan Stefanov, John Edwards and Elisa Gerussi 2018 EUR XXXXX XX This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of this publication. Contact information Name: John Edwards Address: c/ Inca Garcilaso, 3 Edificio Expo, 41092 Seville – Spain Email: [email protected] Tel.: +34 9544 87163 EU Science Hub https://ec.europa.eu/jrc JRCXXXXXX EUR XXXXX XX PDF ISBN XXX-XX-XX-XXXXX-X ISSN XXXX-XXXX doi:XX.XXXX/XXXXXX Print ISBN XXX-XX-XX-XXXXX-X ISSN XXXX-XXXX doi:XX.XXXX/XXXXXX Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 20XX © European Union/European Atomic Energy Community, 20XX The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). Reuse is authorised, provided the source of the document is acknowledged and its original meaning or message is not distorted. The European Commission shall not be liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse. For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not owned by the EU, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. All content © European Union/European Atomic Energy Community How to cite this report: Author(s), Title, EUR (where available), Publisher, Publisher City, Year of Publication, ISBN 978-92-79-XXXXX-X (where available), doi:10.2760/XXXXX (where available), JRCXXXXXX Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ 1 1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 2 2 Background to regional development, smart specialisation and higher education in Bulgaria and the North Central region...............................................................................3 2.1 Governance structures and regional administration...............................................3 2.2 Higher education system in Bulgaria......................................................................3 2.2.1 Structure and governance..............................................................................3 2.2.2 Funding sources for HEIs................................................................................4 2.3 Higher Education institutions in North Central Bulgaria..........................................5 2.4 Strategies for Smart Specialisation at the national and regional levels..................7 2.4.1 Strategic documents......................................................................................7 2.4.2 The role of HEIs in smart specialization..........................................................8 2.4.3 Regional intermediaries.................................................................................8 3 Research results............................................................................................................ 9 3.1 Alignment of HEI to RIS3......................................................................................... 9 3.1.1 Engagement of HEIs in RIS3 design...............................................................9 3.1.2 Implementation phase...................................................................................9 3.1.3 Barriers and gaps in the engagement process.............................................10 3.2 Incentives to HEIs and university researchers to be involved in RIS3 and regional development activities................................................................................................ 11 3.2.1 Self - awareness........................................................................................... 11 3.2.2 Funding........................................................................................................ 11 3.2.3 Knowledge transfer......................................................................................12 3.3 Interregional