New Bulgarian University ( bg, Нов български университет, also known and abbreviated as НБУ, NBU) is a
private university
Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...
based in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
, the capital of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. Its campus is in the western district of the city, known for its proximity to the
Vitosha
Vitosha ( bg, Витоша ), the ancient ''Scomius'' or ''Scombrus'', is a mountain massif, on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Vitosha is one of the symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking, alpinism and skiing. Conveni ...
nature park. The university also owns multiple other buildings across the country, as well as its own publishing house and a library.
Among the list of NBU Honorary Doctors and Honorary Professors are
Richard Rorty
Richard McKay Rorty (October 4, 1931 – June 8, 2007) was an American philosopher. Educated at the University of Chicago and Yale University, he had strong interests and training in both the history of philosophy and in contemporary analytic phi ...
,
Thomas Sebeok
Thomas Albert Sebeok ( hu, Sebők Tamás, ; 1920–2001) was a Hungarian-born American polymath,Cobley, Paul; Deely, John; Kull, Kalevi; Petrilli, Susan (eds.) (2011). Semiotics Continues to Astonish: Thomas A. Sebeok and the Doctrine of Signs'. ...
,
Wolfgang Iser
Wolfgang Iser (22 July 1926 – 24 January 2007) was a German literary scholar.
Biography
Wolfgang Iser was born in Marienberg, Germany. His parents were Paul and Else (Steinbach) Iser. He studied literature in the universities of Leipzig and T ...
,
Terry Eagleton
Terence Francis Eagleton (born 22 February 1943) is an English literary theorist, critic, and public intellectual. He is currently Distinguished Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University.
Eagleton has published over forty books, ...
,
Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva (; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, bg, Юлия Стоянова Кръстева; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has ...
,
Jean-Pierre Vernant
Jean-Pierre Vernant (; January 4, 1914 – January 9, 2007) was a French historian and anthropologist, specialist in ancient Greece. Influenced by Claude Lévi-Strauss, Vernant developed a structuralist approach to Greek myth, tragedy, and ...
,
Ralf Dahrendorf
Ralf Gustav Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf, (1 May 1929 – 17 June 2009) was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, political scientist and liberal politician. A class conflict theorist, Dahrendorf was a leading expert on explaining and a ...
,
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...
,
Geert Hofstede
Gerard Hendrik (Geert) Hofstede (2 October 1928 – 12 February 2020) was a Dutch social psychologist, IBM employee, and Professor Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International Management at Maastricht University in the Netherla ...
,
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...
,
Milcho Leviev
Milcho Leviev ( bg, Милчо Левиев ; December 19, 1937 – October 12, 2019) was a Bulgarian composer, arranger, and jazz pianist.
Career
Leviev was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and graduated from the Bulgarian State Academy of Music in 1 ...
,
Raina Kabaivanska
Raina Yakimova Kabaivanska ( bg, Райна Якимова Кабаиванска); born 15 December 1934) is a Bulgarian opera singer, one of the leading Spinto soprano, lirico-spinto sopranos of her generation, particularly associated with V ...
,
Alexander Fol
Alexander Fol ( bg, Александър Фол) (born in Sofia, Bulgaria on July 3, 1933; died in Sofia on March 1, 2006) was a Bulgarian historian and Thracologist. In 1957, he studied history at the University of St. Kliment Ohridski in Sofia ...
,
Vera Mutafchieva Vera Mutafchieva ( bg, Вера Мутафчиева; March 28, 1929 – June 9, 2009) was a Bulgarian writer and historian.
Biography
Vera Mutafchieva was born in Sofia, March 28, 1929. Her parents were the historian prof. Petar Mutafchiev an ...
,
Georgy Fotev
Georgy Fotev ( bg, Георги Фотев) (born August 24, 1941) is a Bulgarian sociologist. His scientific works are in the areas of theory and history of sociology and the disciplinary fields of modern sociology. The focus of Fotev's resear ...
etc.
The mission of New Bulgarian University is to:
- be an autonomous academic institution that supports students in their entrepreneurial and personal development.
- be a liberal academic institution, based on the link between education, research and entrepreneurship.
- provide interdisciplinary general and specialised education, based on theoretical research and practical knowledge.
Since 2004, NBU is an accredited partner of
The Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
Business School.
History
NBU was established on 18 September 1991 by
Bogdan Bogdanov Bogdan Bogdanov (in Bulgarian: Богдан Богданов), 1940-2016, is a Bulgarian classical philologist, culturologist and translator. Bogdanov is the president of New Bulgarian University and chairman of the Board of Trustees of NBU. He is ...
and a group of Bulgarian intellectuals with a resolution by Bulgarian Parliament. NBU's main purpose was to modernise Bulgarian
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
. 2,500 students were welcomed during the first year. A test of general education was introduced in 1995 and established as a uniform standard for the reception of students in 1996.
NBU's Educational Museum was founded on 23 April 2010. The first exhibition was "Museum Network Resources". It was the final stage of the project "Educational Museum at New Bulgarian University". The project was funded by the National Fund for Research at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science, the Cultural Heritage (study on national historic and culture legacy as a part of European culture heritage and advanced methods for preserving).
Since 2010, NBU is the home of 'The Slug Theater', where the university's drama club present their shows.
Campus facilities
The campus consists of two buildings (Buildings 1 and 2) housing the Aula, Library, University Theater, NBU Museum, UniArt Gallery, Medical Center, and a Sports Center surrounded with open green spaces.
The university has more than 100 halls, computer labs, language and simultaneous interpreting labs, a Mock Courtroom, an Arts Center with practice rooms and studios for students of music, fine arts, design and architecture with a total capacity of 2 500 seats.
Library
NBU's
academic library
An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...
provides over 128 000 items accessed by 150 000 annual visitors.
Reputation
NBU's IT and management departments rank high in the country. As of 2014, NBU ranked second in Bulgaria according to the
Webometrics Ranking of World Universities The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, also known as Ranking Web of Universities, is a ranking system for the world's universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the Web content (number of web pages ...
.
Centers
Central and East European Center for Cognitive Science
The Central and East European Center for Cognitive Science (or CEEC of Cognitive Science) undertakes research in fundamental and applied cognitive science. Research topics include:
memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
,
thinking
In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...
,
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
,
learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...
,
perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
, context, applications to
robotics
Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...
,
AI, and
cognitive systems,
cognitive economics
Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...
,
human factors
Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...
and
usability
Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a soft ...
,
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
and learning methods. The Center is co-directed by
Boicho Kokinov Boicho Kokinov ( bg, Бойчо Кокинов, 27 December 1960 – 10 May 2013) was an associate professor in cognitive science and computer science at the New Bulgarian University
New Bulgarian University ( bg, Нов български уни ...
and
Jeff Elman
Jeffrey Locke Elman (January 22, 1948 – June 28, 2018) was an American psycholinguist and professor of cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He specialized in the field of neural networks.
In 1990, he introduced ...
.
The CEEC of Cognitive Science grants M.Sc., Ph.D. degrees in
cognitive science and organizes annually summer school.
20th International Summer School in Cognitive Science
/ref>
Other centers
* Bulgarian Center for Human relations
The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...
* Center for Social Practices
* Center for Public Administration
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...
* Assessment Center
* South-East European Center for Semiotic Studies
Departments
* National and International Security Studies
* Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
* Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
* Biomedical Sciences
Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbio ...
* Cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
, Advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
and Show Business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produc ...
* Cognitive science and Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
* Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
* Design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
* Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and Environmental Sciences
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geo ...
* Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
and Business Administration
Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
* Fine Arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
* Foreign Language Education
* Foreign Languages
A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at school ...
and Literatures
* History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
* Informatics
Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' ''Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which ...
* History of Culture
* Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
* Mass Communications
Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...
* Mediterranean and Eastern Studies
* Musical Arts
* New Bulgarian Studies
* Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and Sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
* Plastic Arts
Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a plastic medium by molding or modeling such as sculpture or ceramics. Less often the term may be used broadly for all the visual arts (such as painting, sculpture, film and pho ...
* Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
s
* Theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
* Telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
* Tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
Programmes
Bachelor's
See also
* Bulgarian Virtual University
* Central and East European Center for Cognitive Science The Central and East European Center for Cognitive Science (also as CEEC of Cognitive Science ) at the New Bulgarian University undertakes research in fundamental and applied cognitive science. Research topics include: memory, thinking, language, l ...
References
External links
New Bulgarian University official website
South Eastern European Center for Semiotic Studies
Efficiency and public funding for higher education in Bulgaria
{{authority control
Educational institutions established in 1991
1991 establishments in Bulgaria