Cosmina Tanasoiu

A European by education, location, vocation, travel and readings.

Carrying a belief that education is the silver bullet though I stumbled into this profession by chance rather than choice. I approach it therefore more from the perspective of the student than the professor. As a student, I could not forgive two things from a professor: incompetence and boredom. I see a class as a performance, mixing virtuosity (for which you have university degrees to show) and improvisation (which is subject to adjustment to the audience). A combination of classical music, jazz and rock and roll. It needs rhythm, punch lines and some degree of the unexpected (though hopefully not crashing guitars) to introduce students to what otherwise could remain, despite best intentions, an abstract subject. Teaching is more than academic ping-pong (I say, they write), but rather a conversation though not necessarily a democratic one (if as a professor you lose control over the classroom there is no point for you to be there in the first place). I’d rather push students than regret not pushing them enough. It is a risk I am willing to take. The point is not to make the students’ life miserable, but to give them the satisfaction by the end to say: I did this! My promise, as you enter my classes, is to offer an intellectual training you can rely upon whether for further academic studies, in the job market or simply for being an interesting partner of conversation over coffee.

Vasil Tuchkov

Vasil Tuchkov qualifies himself as a Creator and Destroyer.

My time is split between commercial and Indie projects, in the areas of Advertising, Product Development, and Guerilla Marketing, where I apply skills as Writer, Designer and Conceptualist.

I wrote my first novel at age 15, and published at 17. I am also the founder of Living Museum™ – an interactive installation event, included in the Washington Post Top 20 review of global cultural happenings for 2010.
In my free time, I write fiction, and just finished my latest contemporary short-novel.
I currently work as Head of Creative for Suicidal Kings™, a UK-based clothing company.
I like dogs, and scrambled eggs.

Milena Georgieva

A young scientist in Bulgaria with lots of prestigious awards for best scientific excellence practices I put my all energy in revealing the secrets of the way our DNA functions.

The way we live, the way we talk, the way we breathe and the environment is what shapes our destinies and is controlling our genomes…..and as I breathe in and out with science, it might be interesting to follow my endeavours on the battlefield of Molecular Biology.

I have graduated from the University of Sofia, Faculty of Biology in 2001 and since then have been working at the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Molecular Biology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, where I obtained my PhD in Molecular Biology.

Luckily I became part of a very enthusiastic and proactive team of young scientists. There I have been trained in surviving as a young scientist in Bulgaria…Difficult task regarding all the problems of Bulgaria has been faced during the first years of its democracy, but that task has been fulfilled successfully.
As a young scientist I have been granted with lots of opportunities to travel abroad and to gather experience. The healthy scientific environment in the laboratory helped me to span my ideas freely and allowed me to develop a strong scientific background.

Daniyar Aha

A co-founder of the personal empowerment company DAYAMOGU; an expert author on EzineArticles.com and Selfgrowth.com; a loving father of two sweetest girls; an ardent student of aikido; and a passionate karaoke fan.

Having acquired some managerial experience in several multi-national companies in sales, trade marketing, brand management, retail management, and business development in Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Kazakhstan, Daniyar underwent the Aha Moment of his life at the age of 33 and is now devoting a large proportion of his time to the areas of true interest for him – psychology of personal development, miracle of personal empowerment, and magnificence of personal achievement.

Understanding that the most effective learning comes with teaching, Daniyar founded DAYAMOGU at the end of 2012 together with his sister Madina. Their company creates and holds workshops in personal development, work productivity, interpersonal relations, and tobacco-free life.

Brisejda Gjoza

A social activist who tries to develop sustainable solutions to the issues I care about.I am the kind of person who forgets her keys and losses her phone but who would never forget to call my parents or write to my friends.

I would rather experience different cultures by traveling and staying in their own habitat than learn from books or television. With traveling, I associate my all time dream, to connect with people and be happy.  However, my wish for a stable future is to become a successful social entrepreneur and contribute in my home country.

Currently I am working on a few issues, trying to implement social change projects in the local communities through The Ideas Partnership organization.

I am one of the two head organizers of the European Youth Parliament in Kosovo, promoting youth advocacy and greater political recognition of young people. My role currently involves direct contact with International Organisations, government institutions and local NGOs in securing partnership and funding in order to organize our big event, The Balkans Summit.

I have had an interesting post graduate life by working in Spain where I initially started as an Intern for an international organization 100 Cities for Peace, in Barcelona, and later on joined the Unesco Heritage Club in Valencia. Today I am one of the most passionate members of Unesco Club and now I am remotely involved with the organization as required, assisting one of the projects I implemented myself once in Senegal.

Part of my enthusiasm and tolerance towards different cultures I contribute to the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) where have completed a double BA joint hhonors degree in European Studies and Business Administration. I have really enjoyed the degrees and, feel that the course has allowed me to develop many skills. However, at the time I wish I were more encouraged to learn for knowledge and not for grades.

TEDxAUBG 2013 is coming soon – for now, get a glimpse of what is it going to be.

Atanas Georgiev

Chief editor of Publics.bg and Utilities Magazine
Assistant and PhD student at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University

I have graduated with Bachelor’s degree in “Economics” and Master’s degrees in “Economics and Management in Energy, Infrastructure, and Utilities” and in “Finance and Banking” at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA) of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. I also participated in many short-term training programs related to economics and management of the energy & utilities sectors.

I worked as a part-time, and since 2007 as a full-time assistant professor in FEBA, Sofia University, as well as the secretary for the Master Programme “Economics and Management in Energy, Infrastructure, and Utilities”. Currently I am finishing my PhD studies in the field of energy sector regulation. I am also member of the Scientific Committee of the Turin School of Local Regulation (Italy).

In the period 2005-2009 I worked at Uconomics Ltd. first as a consultant in energy sector restructuring and later – as the managing editor of the Bulgarian “Utilities” Magazine and as a programme manager for a number of trainings and conferences in the fields of energy, infrastructure and utilities. I have published a number of articles about the energy sector and other public services.

 Since January 2010 I became one of the founders of Public Services Ltd. and the managing editor of publics.bg – the Bulgarian online professional media for development of public services. Since March 2012 I have also become the Chief Editor of Utilities Magazine.

Books: “PRverbs – What we can learn about PR from Bulgarian Proverbs”; “Politics 2.0”; “13 W Stories”
Personal blog: boshnakova.com

I am a founder and owner of the ROI Communication agency, specialized in Public Relations and book publishing. I am engaged in Public Relations theory and Practice since 1998. I am an associate professor in PR at New Bulgarian University and have consulted and trained in over 100 companies and organizations. I am a speaker at many events in the PR industry in Bulgaria and abroad.  I am a TED translator and curator of TEDxNBU.

Among my hobbies are photography and traveling. I have written two professional books: “PRverbs – What we can learn about PR from Bulgarian Proverbs” and “Politics 2.0”. Recently I published my first book with short stories “13 W Stories”. I speak Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish, French and English. I am passionate about social media and I am a Webit Consul.