Establishment and development of the Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

The Bulgarian research landscape, presented mainly by the research institutes that are part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Agricultural Academy, needs diversification to match the research and innovation potential of the other European Union (EU) countries. This article describes the establishment of the Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology (CPSBB), a new innovative type of independent research organization that is changing the research landscape in Bulgaria. Supported by the EU Commission, Bulgarian Government, and Plovdiv Municipality, CPSBB has quickly become the leading plant science institute in Bulgaria, creating knowledge in diverse fields such as bioinformatics, biotechnology, genetics and genomics, metabolomics, and systems biology. We outline the organizational structure of CPSBB, the development of its infrastructure, and its scientific productivity. Finally, we compare CPSBB with other similar research establishments in Europe and we conclude that such new types of institutes have a bright future in Bulgaria due to their operational flexibility, productivity, and connections with academia and industry.