dear Excellences,
dear Chair of the Bulgarian Parliament Tsetska Tsacheva,
dear Prime Minister Boyko Borisov,
for several years I enjoy, in my positions as a
Professor for Nuclear Physics at the
Darmstadt University of Technology, Darmstadt, Germany, and
Director of the Darmstadt Institute for Nuclear Physics,
a close cooperation with world-class Bulgarian nuclear scientists
at the
Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy of the
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and at the
Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski".
This cooperation is substantiated by annual research visits
and exchange of group members supported by the German DAAD
agency for international academic exchange between my group
of about 50 scientists and the (much smaller but equally excellent)
academic research groups of Profs. Dr.
XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
(BAS)
and Dr.
XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
(St.Kliment Ohridski), who was
awarded a prestigeous 18-months Humboldt-fellowship by the
German Humboldt-Foundation.
Although structurally underfinanced the Bulgarian scientists
managed with enormous personal efforts to maintain an internationally
competitive and even leading position in some areas of nuclear physics.
I observe with deep concern that this valuable position for the
State of Bulgaria is in severe danger when the proposed cuts in
the financial budget of Bulgarian sciences would become reality.
E.g., my Institute would be very pleased to hire the most excellent,
hand-picked Bulgarian nuclear scientists, whose intellectual contribution
would then be lost for the Bulgarian State forever.
This loss would result in a reduced capability for scientific and
technological innovation in Bulgaria thereby even deepening and
self-perpetuating the Bulgarian crisis.
I am writing this letter in order to encourage an open discussion
about reconsideration and reduction of the proposed financial cuts
to the public funding for sciences by the State of Bulgaria.
In this email message I copy also the German Minister for Education
and Sciences, Professor Dr. Annette Schavan, in order to make sure
that she is aware of the potentially declining position of the
Bulgarian sciences in Europe.
Most sincerely,
Professor Dr.rer.nat. habil. Norbert Pietralla
Darmstadt Coordinator of the Helmholtz International Center for FAIR
Director
Institut fur Kernphysik
Technische Universitat Darmstadt
Schlossgartenstrasse 9
64289 Darmstadt
GERMANY