Connecting expertise for digital transformation in personalised medicine
EATRIS-CONNECT supports the development of a digitally enabled, collaborative and sustainable European infrastructure for translational medicine. Through EATRIS Bulgaria, the project connects the Bulgarian research community with European expertise, resources and opportunities in digital personalised medicine.
Project at a glance
| Funding programme | Horizon Europe |
| Project duration | 1 May 2024 – 30 April 2027 |
| Project coordinator | EATRIS-ERIC |
| EU contribution | €3,999,735 |
| Grant agreement | 101130349 |
| Bulgarian partner | Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” |
| Local coordinator | Assoc. Prof. Georgi Nikolaev, PhD |
About the project
Digital technologies offer new possibilities for biomedical research, but their effective use requires more than access to individual tools. Researchers also need connected expertise, interoperable resources, appropriate skills and guidance on responsible implementation.
EATRIS-CONNECT brings together national nodes and partners across Europe to support the digital transformation of translational medicine. Its activities combine digital innovation with training, patient engagement, collaboration between research infrastructures and stronger connections with industry and policy communities.
Through this coordinated approach, the project helps strengthen digital capabilities across the EATRIS network, making knowledge and services easier to discover, share and use in personalised medicine.
Project partners and affiliated entities
The consortium is composed of 22 partners, including all current national nodes of the research infrastructure, and academic representatives of new prospective member countries.
- EATRIS-ERIC, The Netherlands
- Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
- Madrid Health Service, Spain
- University of Helsinki (UH), Finland
- Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg
- University of Ljubljana (UL), Slovenia
- Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland
- Riga Stradins University (RSU), Latvia
- Uppsala University (UU), Sweden
- Vall D’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Spain
- CEA-NeurATRIS, France
- Italian National Institute of Health, Italy
- University Of Oslo (UiO), Norway
- INFARMED, Portugal
- Sofia University (SU), Bulgaria
- University of Zagreb School of Medicine (UZSM), Croatia
- University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Finland
- HEALTH-RI, The Netherlands
- Istituto Mario Negri, Italy
- AIBILI, Portugal
- Radboud University Medical Centre (RUMC), The Netherlands (*affiliated entity)
- Masaryk University, Czech Republic (*affiliated entity)
Associated Partners that contribute to WP6 by providing expertise in multimodal patient data access, processing, and clinical operations, supporting the validation of workflows for developing AI-based solutions in real-world healthcare settings:
- Fundación para la investigación biomédica del Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre
- Fundación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela
- Asociación instituto de investigación sanitaria Biogipuzkoa
- Fundación para la investigación del Hospital Universitario La Fe de la Comunidad Valenciana
- Fundación para la Investigación Biosanitaria de Andalucía Oriental (FIBAO)
- Fundación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón
- Fundación instituto de investigación marqués de Valdecilla
EATRIS Bulgaria’s participation
EATRIS Bulgaria participates in EATRIS-CONNECT through Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, the Bulgarian partner in the European consortium. This involvement connects national expertise and priorities with the network’s shared ambition to advance digitally enabled personalised medicine.
The project provides opportunities to exchange knowledge with European partners, strengthen digital competencies and explore collaboration across research infrastructures, academia, healthcare and industry. For the Bulgarian research community, it offers access to expertise, training and resources supporting the responsible use of data and digital technologies in translational research.
Through local dissemination and scientific exchange, EATRIS Bulgaria helps bring these opportunities closer to researchers and stakeholders, encouraging engagement with the EATRIS Digital Hub and the wider European network.
Explore the EATRIS Digital Hub
The EATRIS Digital Hub is a key output of EATRIS-CONNECT: an AI-powered conversational platform helping researchers navigate knowledge, resources and expertise for translational medicine.
Drawing on curated information, the Hub supports the discovery of methods, training, research guidance and resources relevant to digital transformation and personalised medicine. It provides a starting point for exploring questions and finding useful source materials.
The Hub supports knowledge discovery, not clinical decision-making. Users should verify responses against the linked sources and relevant official guidance.
Training and knowledge exchange
EATRIS-CONNECT supports researchers and research infrastructure teams in developing the skills and connections needed for digital personalised medicine. Its activities include summer schools and knowledge exchange opportunities, combining learning with collaboration across institutions and countries.
For researchers in Bulgaria, these activities offer opportunities to exchange practical experience with European colleagues, explore digital approaches to translational research and build professional networks.
Visit the official project page for training announcements, application requirements and current opportunities.
Activities and updates from Bulgaria
Bringing the Digital Hub to the BIO-RED Hackathon
9–11 September 2026 · Sofia Tech Park
EATRIS Bulgaria introduced the EATRIS Digital Hub during the BIO-RED Cross-Regional Hackathon, presenting it as a knowledge resource for teams exploring health-data challenges and digital innovation. The contribution helped raise awareness of this EATRIS-CONNECT output among researchers, companies and other innovation stakeholders.
Industry–Academia Meeting: Biomarkers in Translational Medicine
28 November 2025 · Grand Hotel Sofia
Organised as an EATRIS-CONNECT task and funded through the project, this industry–academia meeting brought together researchers, companies and research infrastructure representatives to exchange expertise and explore collaboration in translational medicine.
The programme addressed biomarker discovery and validation, precision medicine, AI and digitalisation, and European health-data spaces. Keynote lectures, a panel discussion and contributions from young researchers connected scientific advances with practical challenges and opportunities for cooperation between academia and industry.
Contact
For information about EATRIS Bulgaria’s participation in EATRIS-CONNECT:
Assoc. Prof. Georgi Nikolaev, PhD
Local Project Coordinator
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Biology
georgigeorgiev@eatris.eu
EATRIS-CONNECT has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101130349.
