University of Sofia St. Kliment Ohridski

The University of Sofia "St. Kliment Ohridski" is the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria.

Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constructed between 1924 and 1934 with the financial support of the brothers Evlogi Georgiev and Hristo Georgiev (whose sculptures are now featured on its façade) and has an area of 18,624 m² and a total of 324 premises. The university has 16 faculties and three departments, where over 21,000 students receive their education. The current rector is Anastas Gerdzhikov.

The Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski is the first higher educational institution in Bulgaria. Its history is an embodiment and a continuation of centuries of cultural and educational tradition in this country.Public teaching activities in Bulgaria date back to the second half of the 9th century.During the Bulgarian Renaissance, a new idea for opening a School of Higher Education was conceived.

The prestige of the School of Higher Education grew rapidly with the cultural and educational mission it acquired after the Liberation in 1878.

Year by year the Sofia University has developed into an important academic and scientific centre on the Balkans, a well developed academic institution with European dimensions. Today Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski is the largest and most prestigious educational and scientific centre in the country.

It has been consistently ranked as the top university in Bulgaria according to national and international rankings—it is constantly among the best four percent of world universities according to QS World University Rankings.

University St. Kliment Ohridski is the main national high academic, research, cultural and information center of high international reputation.

The University is exemplary in terms of its scietific research and educational activities, both of them enjoying wide cultural and social significance.

The University forms the nucleus of the Bulgarian scientific and cultural elite and enlightens the Bulgarian national self-consciousness.
The University contributes significantly to the Bulgarian participation in the global development of science and education.

The University plays an active role in preparing and conducting policies of national, regional and international significance.

Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski has the mision to safeguard, enrich and carry through the centuries the spirit of knowledge and the aspirations of humanity to knowledge and truth. The University is the center of the development of science and the education of students in all domains of life; it also cultivates highly educated, nationally responsible personalities who will lead the Bulgarian nation to spiritual feats and social welfare.

The University's objective is to assert its role as an academic, scientific and cultural center of European standing.

The educational programs of Sofia University must constantly meet European quality standards and approximate the leading world criteria.

The University aims at maintaining the level of the best practices in the development, management and the implementation of scientific achievements in vitally important walks of social life and in the life of the separate individual.

The University will continue to expand its pivotal role in the setting up and development of projects, policies and strategies for the development of the country.

The University does its best to assert its leadership position in education, science and the key projects in social development.

All that the University will achieve by adhering to:

• The principle of professionalism, i.e. top professional competence and impeccable professional performance both by faculty and personnel;
• The principle of focussing the activities on the stakeholders, the clients and the users of educational services and the activities offered by the University;
• The principle of continuous improvement and quest for better quality;
• The principle of prevention on the basis of on-going monitoring, analysis and prognostication that will help avoid the occurrence of negative events in the activities and the educational services.