Anna Mantarova is a Doctor of Sciences and Professor of Sociology at IFS-BAS. She defended her master's degree (1981) at the "St. Cl. Ohridski" University as the top of her class. She was awarder a Doctor of Sociology in 1986, and a Doctor of Sociological Sciences in 2013. In her professional life, she combines research activities at the IFS at the BAS (since 1986, and as a professor since 2014) with the training of students and doctoral students in universities (LTU, VUSI, IIOZ) and management and administrative activities as the Institute's scientific secretary (from 2012 to 2017. ). Prof. Mantarova has many years of experience and participation in numerous scientific forums and researches on environmental issues and on problems of social deviations, incl. the risk factors for their occurrence (Mantarova A. (comp. and editor.) Sustainable development: inter- and intragenerational aspects. Sofia, Avangard prima. 2020; Mantarova, Naumova, Bagreeva. Deviations and crime: sustainability and dynamics of determinants. Sofia, 2020). She defended a dissertation for the award of the scientific degree Doctor of Sociological Sciences (2013) on the topic "Environmental Risks in the Transforming Society". There is a monograph "Environmental problems and sustainable development" (2014) and numerous publications in this thematic area, some of which are cited abroad. She has led and participated in a number of empirical studies of various social risks. Compiler and editor of 11 collections, incl. with international participation.
Plamena Yovchevska is a Doctor of Economic Sciences and a professor at the Agricultural Academy. Her scientific interests are related to the place and role of the economic system of agriculture in the creation of value for the national economy, macro-social transformation, community agricultural policy and changes in Bulgarian agriculture, agro-ecological significance of the primary sector in preserving the human living environment, socio-cultural traditions and their importance for the development of social capital in the industry. Professor Yovchevska has many years of experience in researching problems in the field of agriculture and economic relations in the sector. She authored a number of studies on vulnerable/sensitive sectors in agriculture, numerous publications on agricultural management, which immanently includes risk management, in application of the Common Agricultural Policy, biodiversity conservation. She participates in a number of committees at the Ministry of Education and Culture, in which she not only supports the specialized administration, but also has the opportunity to be well informed about the current situation and problems in the sector.
Lyuba Spasova is a doctor of sociology, associate professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS and director of the Social Research and Policies Institute. She received her BA in Psychology (2005), BA in Sociology (2007, with honors), MA in Public Relations (2009), MA in Sociology (2010, with honors). In 2013, he defended a dissertation in sociology on the topic "Deviant models of participation in local government" as a full-time doctoral student at the Institute of Sociology at the BAS. In 2019, Lyuba received first prize in the competition for excellence of young scientists "Prof. Marin Drinov" of the BAS. In 2017, she was awarded as a finalist in the international competition for young scientists of the World Sociological Association (2017, ISA Worldwide Competition for Junior Sociologists).
Her research interests are in sociology of deviance and social control, hate crime, integration and inclusion, gender studies. She is currently working in-depth on issues of inclusion and equality related to gender, disability and migration in several research projects, the most important of which are: MILIEU, funded by the Horizon 2020 program (Lyuba is the project coordinator) and HUMCORE, funded at AMIF (she is the head of the Bulgarian team).
Anna Popova is a doctor of sociology and a senior assistant in the "Social control, deviations and conflicts" section at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the BAS and at the "Angel Kanchev" University of Ruse - the Department of "Management and Social Activities". She has participated as a researcher in several research projects funded by the Scientific Research Fund and the Horizon 2020 program. He has experience as a consultant in several UNICEF-Bulgaria projects related to the regional planning of social services in Bulgaria, as well as in projects with European and other funding related to the process of deinstitutionalization and improving the well-being of various risk groups of children and persons, implemented from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Health and non-governmental organizations. Her scientific interests are focused on deficits and risks in children's socialization, consequences and risks of labor migration on the children of migrant parents, on the problems of adaptation and integration of youth with special needs, social macro-transformation and social risks in conditions of a pandemic; migration processes; transnational families and studies related to gender equality, discrimination and inequalities. Anna Popova has authored three monographs (one individual and two as a co-author) and 18 other publications on the mentioned issues.
Rada Smedovska-Toneva is a Doctor of Sociology and a senior assistant at IFS-BAS. She graduated in law in 2002 from the Université de droit et sciences politiques in Clermont-Ferrand, France (Master's degree with profile in public law). She worked for many years in the non-governmental sector as a coordinator and participant in various national and international projects in the field of judicial and constitutional reform, organized crime, etc. In 2017 she defended a doctoral dissertation in the Department of Sociology at the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". In the period 2017-2020 she thought sociology of law in the Department of Sociology at Sofia University. From 2019 she is a part-time lecturer in criminology at the New Bulgarian University. Her main areas of interest are policies to counter organized crime and their effectiveness, security sector and crime control mechanisms, security risk reduction policies, etc.
Tony Dimov is a Doctor of Law, a senior assistant at the IPN-BAS and the founder and chairman of the Center for the Assessment of the Impact of Legislation. He is the first Bulgarian lawyer to defend a dissertation in Bulgaria on a topic related to impact assessment and public consultations in the national and European rule-making process. He has extensive experience in the development of comparative legal analyzes and legislative proposals, specialized legal research, research into legislative trends at the European level, international private and international public law, research into legislative approaches and practices of regulation and self-regulation at the level of the European Union and in individual countries - EU members.
He has participated in a number of projects regarding the legislative and normative framework and the mechanisms of its construction and updating, related to various social processes and phenomena, incl. and relevant to the project topic.
Daniela Vasileva holds a bachelor's degree in sociology (2000) and a master's degree in public administration (2004). Her main research interests are in the field of ecology and sustainable development, environmental policy, activism and civil movements. Doctoral student Vasileva has a number of publications in the field of environmental problems, environmental policy, civil participation in solving environmental problems. She is working on a dissertation studying the role of civil activity in the formation and implementation of environmental policy.
Bilyana Ivanova - Naumova is a lawyer by education with a strong interest in the sociology of law. After completing her master's degree in law, she studied at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy - majoring in "European Integration and Security". She also has a master's degree in International Political Relations and Security from SU "St. Kliment Ohridski". Her research interests are related to the field of sociology of law – legal consciousness, legally relevant behavior, determinants of deviant behavior. Her dissertation is devoted to intergenerational differences in the content and mechanisms of formation of legal consciousness.