📅 Date: 2 July 2026
🏁 Start: 14:30 - 16:30 h
🚨 Registration
📍 Location: Acad. Georgi Bonchev Str., Block 8; 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Institute of Mathematics and Informatics - BAS
🎯 Type: In-Person
🧑🚀 Participants: researchers, policy makers, NGO representatives, librarians, IT professionals
🎤 Working Language: English
🎟️ Resume: The round table will bring together researchers, librarians and experts in open science, responsible research practices, scholarly communication and research assessment. It is organised as part of the Pilot Programme for Capacity Building of Higher Education Institutions and Research Organisations in the Creation and Use of Research Data through the Principles of Open, Responsible and Citizen Science, funded by the Ministry of Education and Science and coordinated by the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
We will discuss how open and research practices can be embedded across the academic lifecycle - from planning and data management to publication, visibility, reuse and evaluation.
A specific emphasis will be placed on the potential role of altmetrics as a complementary, carefully, interpreted layer in the assessment research activities.
Why is this training needed?
The increasing digitalisation of scholarly communication has transformed how research impact is created, disseminated, and measured. Traditional bibliometric indicators, such as citation counts, impact factors, and the h-index, remain important tools for research evaluation; however, they often fail to capture the broader societal, policy, educational, and public dimensions of research impact. Altmetrics (alternative metrics) provide complementary indicators by measuring online attention and engagement with research outputs across social media, news outlets, policy documents, blogs, repositories, and other digital platforms.
Who is the training for?
For Bulgarian research institutions, the introduction of altmetrics offers significant opportunities to increase international visibility, demonstrate societal relevance, strengthen competitiveness in European funding programmes, and support the principles of Open Science. This round table will discuss the importance of altmetrics within the Bulgarian research ecosystem and outlines their potential contribution to institutional development and research evaluation.
The round table is interactive, oriented towards the Bulgarian academic context, and is intended to support future activities and institutional initiatives.
The round table is intended for:
- specialists from universities and research organisations supporting the implementation of Open Science practices;
- staff in academic libraries and information centres;
- research, project, innovation officers, and knowledge transfer officers;
- scholarly communication specialists;
- members of Open Science, research infrastructure, and research data management teams in research-performing organisations.
Participation requirements:
- experience in an academic or research institution;
- basic knowledge of research activity and working with research data;
- prior experience in planning and delivering training is an advantage;
- willingness to actively participate in discussions and practical exercises.
How to apply?
Please complete the registration form.
Places are limited. Participation is free of charge but does not include travel or accommodation support for participants based outside Sofia.
Selected participants will be notified by 29 June 2026.
Outcomes:
The round table will help researchers Tallinn:
- understanding the role of altmetrics in research assessment
- recognising the importance of research visibility
- improving knowledge of research reuse pathways
- developing skills for demonstrating societal impact
- strengthening open science competencies
- fostering cross-sector collaboration and knowledge exchange
- enhancing science communication capabilities.
Who will deliver the training?
International team:
- Mahendra Mahey, Tallinin University and Estonian National Museum
- Assos. Prof. Valeriya Simeonova, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics - Sofia University
- Moderator: Assos. Prof. Milena Dobreva, Strathclyde University