The annual NIS awards for contributions to applied research were presented at a ceremony at the Technical University – Sofia

In the "TechArena" hall, at the beginning of the ceremony, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Elitsa Gieva, Deputy Rector for Scientific and Applied Activities and Academic Staff, presented certificates to the successfully completed projects within the "Student Innovation Hub" and "School Student Innovation Hub" in 2025.

Three projects were awarded in the "Student Innovation Hub" competition:

For the project „System for assessing the carbon footprint of student dormitories“ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Kalin Filipov, project leader, and the students – Mikhail Dimitrov from EMF, Ivan Ivanov from FIT, and Aleksandar Dilchev from EMF, were awarded.

For the project "Embedded system for plant monitoring with a mobile application" were awardedAssoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Kameliya Raynova and student Veselin Gospodinov from FCT.

For the project "3D printing and testing of a diffuser for the filling system of an internal combustion engine for a sports racing car" Prof. Dr. Eng. Krassimir Nedelchev and student Kristina Georgieva from TF were awarded. This is the highest-rated scientific project in this competition.

In the competition „"Student Innovation Hub" for the project "Automated system for recognizing the spatial orientation of parts for packaging" were awarded  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Nikol Hristova and student Konstantin Naydenov.

The award for the highest-rated scientific project in the "Support for PhD Students" competition with the dissertation topic  "Algorithms for merging images from nuclear magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography of prostate-specific membrane antigen"  was awarded to Prof. Dr. Eng. Veska Georgieva, head, and PhD student Diana Tsvetkova.

The award for the highest-rated scientific project in the "Promising Leaders" competition was received by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Tsvetan Valskovski from FTK for the development on the topic "Eco-monitoring using optoacoustic, thermographic, and radio communication methods in smart cities".

The award for the most successful scientific forum – "Science Days 2025"was awarded to the International Scientific Conference "International Scientific Conference on Information, Communication and Energy Systems and Technologies, ICEST 2025", organized by FTK, with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Marin Nedelchev as chairman of the organizing committee.

The award for the young scientist with the best publication activity was won by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Desislava Dimova, MTT, FMU – Plovdiv, who has published 11 articles in Scopus and 1 article in Web of Science.

The award for the most cited scientific publication indexed in 2025 was awarded to Corresponding Member Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Todorov and Prof. Dr. Eng. Konstantin Kamberov. The topic of the publication is „Mathematical modeling and optimization of processing parameters during CNC turning of Inconel 718 using the Taguchi method“.

The award for publication in a journal with the highest impact factor was received by Prof. Dr. Eng. Evgeni Dimitrov from FT, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Mikhail Peichev from FT and , Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Atanas Tashev from FMU – Plovdiv. The topic of their publication is „Research on the influence of hydrogen on the combustion parameters of a diesel engine.

The award for the highest number of publications in refereed journals was received by Corresponding Member Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Todorov from FIT with 22 publications and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Nikolai Khinov from FTK, also with 22 publications.

The award for the highest h-index (Scopus) and h-index (Web of Science) were earned by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Venislav Yanchev from FIT and Prof. Dr. Sci. Ganí Stamov from IPF – Sliven.

The award for the most funds attracted from an international project for 2025 was awarded to Corresponding Member Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Todorov from FIT for the project „Intelligent and structural modular integration of solid-state batteries in the vehicle through flexible design from module to chassis (S4MILE).

Award for the most funds attracted from a national project was received by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Kalin Filipov from EMF for the project "National Program 'Improving Qualification in the Field of Nuclear Technologies and Nuclear Engineering'".

The award for newly created patents and utility models was presented to Prof. Dr. Eng. Ivan Králov and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Krassimir Nedelchev from FT. They hold a national patent "High-Temperature Thermal Accumulator" and have submitted two applications for national patents – "Sound Insulating Barrier" and "Automated System for Detecting Wear of a Mechanical Spherical Joint", which are in procedure, as well as one protected utility model "High-Temperature Thermal Accumulator" and two applications for utility models - "Sound Insulating Barrier" and "Automated System for Detecting Wear of a Mechanical Spherical Joint", which are in procedure.

The award for the most cited scientific publication was received by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Hristian Kanchev from FETT. The topic of the publication is "Energy Management and Operational Planning of a Microgrid with an Active Generator Based on Photovoltaic Systems for Applications in Smart Grids".

The award for the TU - Sofia unit with the most won projects was presented to FKST for the projects with international funding "Sustainable Mindset and AI-Supported Digital Transformation in Higher Education"“, with Prof. Dr. Eng. Veska Gancheva as the supervisor. “AlertHub: Warning Communication Knowledge Network” with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Tsochev as the supervisor and “Machine Learning and Quantum Computing for Future Colliders” with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Tsochev as the supervisor, as well as for the project with national funding “Research on the Possibilities of Using Artificial Intelligence and Simulation Models to Improve Energy Efficiency”, with Prof. Dr. Eng. Rumen Trifonov as the supervisor. The award was presented to the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. Eng. Daniela Gotscheva.

The award for the author with the greatest international influence (cited in the most countries) was received by Corresponding Member Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Todorov and Prof. Dr. Eng. Konstantin Kamberov from FIT for their 13 citations.

Congratulations to the award winners!