08.07.2025
The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA) at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” is delighted to report the successful completion of the ten-day International Summer School on Modeling, Artificial Intelligence and Complex Systems, held from 20 to 29 June 2025 against the dramatic backdrop of Bulgaria’s Seven Rila Lakes.
Supported by the Sofia University Science and Research Fund (contract 80-10-24/21.05.2025), the event united 21 early-career researchers drawn from six academic and industry partners. Among them were ten FEBA PhD candidates and graduating students from the “AI in Business and Finance” master programme, who blended theory, practice and high-altitude teamwork throughout the mountain retreat.
Programme in numbers:
- 19 expert instructors delivered 18 lectures and 15 interactive workshops, totaling more than 60 contact hours.
- Participants formed cross-institutional teams to solve five real-world business and public-policy cases, unveiling their solutions at a closing mini-conference on 29 June.
Highlights praised by participants:
Post-event feedback identified the following sessions as most “transformative”:
- “The Scientific Method & General Systems Theory” - Prof. Angel Marchev Sr. set the intellectual compass on Day 1.
- “Data Mining: Methods & Main Tasks” - Prof. Alexander Efremov and Prof. Kaloyan Haralampiev offered a deep dive into exploratory analytics.
- “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” - Prof. Angel Marchev Jr. bridged foundations with state-of-art trends.
- “Writing a Scientific Article” - Prof. Deyan Radev guided attendees through best practices for scholarly publishing.
- “A Case Study with SHARE Data” - Assoc. Prof. Boryana Pelova showcased evidence-based insights using European ageing datasets.
Impact and next steps:
The school reinforced FEBA’s role as the leading hub for data-driven research and business education. Beyond the academic gains, the Alpine environment fostered diverse networks and interdisciplinary collaborations that are already progressing into joint papers and funding proposals.
Lead organizer Prof. Angel Marchev Jr. reflected: “Our aim was to equip young researchers with a systems mindset and hands-on AI fluency. The energy at Seven Rila Lakes proves that when science meets nature, innovation climbs to new heights.”
Explore the full collection of recordings, materials and photo galleries at https://marchev-science.github.io/Summer.School.2025/.
