Head of State Rumen Radev awarded the Honorary Sign of the President to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at a ceremony dedicated to the 25^th anniversary of the Humboldt Union in Bulgaria. “Talented, ambitious and capable scholars, who have a place among the European scientific elite, work in Bulgaria. I would like to thank all eminent Bulgarian scholars who are scholarship holders, who create schools and teams so as to develop the potential of the young scholars and the relations between Bulgaria and Germany,” President Radev said at the ceremony, which was held in the Archaeological Museum in Sofia.

The President said that the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is one of the most prestigious foundations, which has a long history and a great impact on world science and emphasized that almost 400 Bulgarians are scholarship holders of the foundation today.  “The thousands of young scholars supported by the foundation work in many places throughout the world and are part of the scholarly elite of their countries. There have been 50 Nobel prize laureates in the past 50 years,” Rumen Radev said. The President added that the scholarships awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation have long become one of the tools for encouraging researchers from the whole world to build on, improve and practically implement their high scientific results.

The Head of State thanked the leadership of the foundation for the support and the opportunities which it has provided and continues to provide to Bulgarian scholars and highlighted the significant role the established scholars play in sharing their knowledge, experience and motivation with the young scholars in Bulgaria. “However, there is something even more important than the support offered for the development of these scholars and scientific research and this is the model that they follow for efficient scientific research, for organizing the scholarly work and the prosperity of the whole society,” President Rumen Radev further said in his speech.

Herbert Salber, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Bulgaria, Dr. Enno Aufderheide, Secretary General of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Academician Julian Revalski, President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and many scholars supported by the foundation, attended the ceremony.