The first lecture of the cycle, held on March 29, 2022, was presented by Professor Ivan
Chalakov, head of the “Applied and Institutional Sociology” Department of the Faculty of
Philosophy and History at the “Paisii Hilendarski” University of Plovdiv and head of the “Jean
Monet” Center of Excellence, and the topic of the lecture was “Sociotechnical networks and
historical models of academic transfer – university laboratories and the “spirit of academic
entrepreneurship”. In it, Professor Tchalakov introduces us to the definitions of entrepreneurship,
innovation and academic entrepreneurship, examining the concepts of the Austrian economist
and political scientist Joseph Schumpeter: Innovation as “a new combination of people,
substances and forces/energies”, the difference between “discovery/invention” and “innovation”.
Professor Ivan Tchalakov introduces us to exactly what entrepreneurship is, what happens to
entrepreneurship from the point of view of the global historical plan, how exactly the
entrepreneurial process takes place, who is and what does the (academic) entrepreneur, also what
are the traditional and non-traditional forms of academic entrepreneurship, what are the factors
for its development and implementation, what is its role in the global economy. An important
element of the lecture is also what are the attitudes towards academic entrepreneurship, both in
the world and in Bulgaria, and how it moves in Bulgaria in the years after 1990. Based on his
experience, Professor Tchalakov presents another important topic – “Transfer of technologies in
the university (short notes on the experience in Bulgaria and the USA)”. Ivan Tchalakov shares
his impressions of his visit to the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (USA), presenting
some (mis)conceptions prevailing in society, focused on the relationship between the university
and companies, but also what is the distribution of roles between the university and companies –
when and which cooperation between the two parties leads to real economic benefits. Professor
Tchalakov points out that leading in scientific activity should be pure scientific curiosity, and not
the implementation of applied research “just because it is modern”. It is this that leads him to the
thought of sending an artificial satellite of Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski” into space – at
this stage, the implementation of this plan is still being discussed. Professor Tchalakov notes that
when, through such projects, there is an opportunity to develop scientific activity, then great
science is reached. In the subsequent discussion after the end of the lecture, professors, associate
professors, doctors, doctoral students and students took an active part in nearly an hour,
discussing the topics of the lecture.
Full video of the lecture(in Bulgarian):
