VFU WITH TWO NOMINATIONS FOR THE "VARNA" AWARD
24 Април 2024
Prof. Ph.D. Rumen Stamatov and the author team Yani Yanev and Dr. Svetlozar Popov have been nominated for this year's "Varna" Award in the field of science and higher education, category "Social sciences". The nominations were approved at yesterday's meeting of the Departmental Committee of the Municipal Council on the proposal of the Expert Committee for granting the award.
Prof. Ph.D. Rumen Stamatov, lecturer in Psychology and creator of the master's program in Positive psychology, has been nominated for an individual award – for overall contribution and significant achievements in his academic, research and practical work for the development of positive education, social and educational capacity of students and successful building of positive school culture under the "Positive Education at School" project of VSU "Chernorizets Hrabar", which is innovative for Bulgaria and was implemented in the Geo Milev high school – Varna.
The project developed the first comprehensive methodology for positive education, covering various programmes and activities related to the promotion of strengths, happiness, social and educational abilities, and building a positive school culture. The methodology examines the change of attitudes of students, teachers and parents towards positive education and the importance of well-being and health in school. It also boosts the social competences of students within the digitalization process.
The children’s psychological well-being of has been stipulated as the project’s foundation. This positively affects their psychological health, and on the other hand, stimulates their success, the ability for coping with various challenges and for increasing their results.
The programme leans on the strengths of students, teachers and their parents. Joint actions include trainings for the teaching staff, lectures with parents and implementation of the student well-being programme.
The results of the project are presented in four research studies and include the conceptual foundations and content of positive education, programs and workbooks to help teachers and for independent work of students.
The nomination was supported by Albena Pavlova, director of the Geo Milev high school, as well as the School board of the leading Varna school. Petko Petkov, director of the St. Kliment Ohridski high school also backed the nomination.
The author team Yani Yanev and Dr. Svetlozar Popov have been nominated for a collective award for significant achievements in the research of historical aspects of contractual and international public law, which provide the foundation for the authors’ innovative approach to teaching law students, in their monographic work The Origin of Treaties in the Bulgarian Statehood V – VII Century.
Yani Yanev is the vice president of the Varna Free University, a lawyer and public figure. In his mandate as regional governor (2001 - 2005), it was he who initiated the establishment of the "Varna" award in the field of science and higher education.
Dr. Popov is a doctor and an active participant in the civil society, being one of the initiators of the creation of the "Varna Necropolis I" Association. The authors have joint reports on historical topics.
Their monographic work The Origin of Treaties in the Bulgarian Statehood V – VII Century presents an in-depth analysis of a wide range of historical sources for the period 5th - 7th century, enriched through the eyes of the jurist, who focuses on the Treaty of 448 CE between Byzantium and the Hunnic empire. The authors explore the question of whether Isperih’s Bulgaria was the legal successor to the territorial rights established by this treaty, tracing the continuity in the ruling power, both on the basis of genealogical continuity and in the continuity of the existence of the social organization of the ancient Bulgarians and other tribes and peoples who participated in the ethnogenesis of Isperih’s Bulgaria, combined with a permanent territorial presence. A poorly studied period of Bulgarian history, related to the process of the emergence of the Bulgarian statehood, namely the time before the creation of Isperih’s Bulgaria, has been studied. The topic is presented in a dynamic, imaginative, accessible and engaging style. The work has an interdisciplinary character and offers a new perspective and light on the chronological framework of the rulers from the earliest Bulgarian history.
Reviews and recommendations for granting the "Varna" Award to Yani Yanev and Dr. Svetlozar Popov were given by the corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Prof. Ivan Ruschev, JD, Prof. Ivan Bilyarski, Prof. Dr. Yanaki Stoilov, DEc, Prof. Dr. Emil Konstantinov, Prof. Hristo Matanov, Dec, Prof. Dr. Georgi Penchev.
The honours are awarded by a decision of the Municipal Council on the eve of May 24. Nominations are expected to be voted on at the upcoming session. The prestigious awards are presented to teachers, students, lecturers, scientists, as well as to teaching and research teams for their achievements during the preceding year.
