XVIth International Conference on Current Issues in Higher Education, Sozopol, Bulgaria on the 29.05 – 01.06.2018.
The organizer of the meeting is the Technical University of Sofia, English Language Faculty of Engineering.

Challenges in Higher Education and Research in 21-st Centory - are numerous and resource-intensive. - Human knowledge is constantly growing and expanding. With this, the need for high professional skills and competences is constantly growing. Education, particularly higher education, is becoming increasingly critical both for the individual and the business, as well as for humanity as a whole.

The aim of the conference is to provide an opportunity to exchange information and ideas for the development of higher education and scientific achievements as well as for fostering personal contacts and working together.

Benefits: 

  • Cooperation and promotion of innovation.
  • Exchange of technologies for economic development and growth.
  • Improving the overall well-being of all citizens.

According to a detailed Eurostat analysis: „This has resulted in a growing number of employers seeking staff with the necessary capacities to manage complex information, think autonomously, be creative, use resources in a smart and efficient manner, as well as communicate effectively.“

English Language Faculty of Engineering (ELFE) was founded in 1992
The ELFE has a separate specialized library and laboratories, most of them located in the departments, that carry the teaching on the specific subject. The ELFE provides higher engineering education, recognized in the EU countries.

The ELFEs graduates are educationally prepared for Euro-Engineer status, which enables them to compete for a job and/or to continue their education in EU countries. The teaching quality assurance procedures introduced at ELFE contribute to the equalisation of the teaching standards at ELFE with the standards of the leading EU universities. These procedures enabled the next step in the international integration of ELFE and academic recognition of the courses and modules taught. 

The International Conference "Challenges in Higher Education and Research in XXI Century" (CHER21) met with scholars and experts from Bulgaria, Europe, Colombia, Morocco and Trinidad.

The conference was traditionally held at the Lazur house on the Technical University of Sofia in Sozopol on the warm days of 29 May to 1 June 2018.

Prof.Dr. Ivan Kralov, Deputy Rector, Scientific and Applied Activities of the Technical University of Sofia, opened the scientific meeting with the positive words that this conference is unique in that it collects traditionally a wide range of scientists and experts from different generations to discuss projects and ideas in different areas of human knowledge. Another positive feature of the conference is the participation of many young scientists from Bulgaria and other regions of the world.

The ASPires project of the National Cluster for Intelligent Transport and Energy Systems was also presented at the conference.

The ASPires Project was presented with a report "Conceptual Model of a Stationary Surveillance System for the early warning of Forest Fires - ASPires-GEO", presented by Associate Professor Dr. Radoslav Deliyski, lecturer at the English Language Faculty of Engineering of the Technical University.

The report received special attention during the plenary session.
The text of the report is to be published in a conference paper from the scientific forum.