Science and Education for Smart Growth in the Context of the Innovative Strategy for Intelligent Specialization of the Republic of Bulgaria

The report presents a comparative analysis of different policies and approaches for management of centers of excellence (CoE) and centers of competence (CoC) in the context of the convergence of science and technology policy. The potential challenges to its successful implementation in Bulgaria are outlined. Best practices and management models in the USA, UK, Denmark and Finland are discussed. Among the main problems in Bulgaria are the short horizon of integration between the efforts of universities and research organizations on the one hand, and business and public sector on the other, the lack of private investments for the development of research, the need for reforms in higher education aimed at improving the quality of education