The new 2018/2019 academic year at Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" opened with a solemn ceremony. 

Among the official guests of the event were the Mayor of the Municipality of Varna Mr Ivan Portnih, the Regional Governor of the Varna Region Mr Stoyan Pasev, the chairpersons of the Varna Courts - of the Court of Appeal - Mrs Vanuhi Arakelyan, of the District Court Mr Marin Marinov, of the first instance court - Mrs Erna Yakova - Pavlova and of the Court of Appeal - Ms Tinka Koseva, the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce in Varna – Mr Ognyan Spasov, the  Head of the Regional Management of Education  in Varna – Mrs Ventseslava Genova, the deputy chairperson of the State Agency for Metrology and Technical Surveillance – Gen.  Kiril Voynov, parents, friends and partners of Varna Free University.




"For 27 years now, VFU" Chernorizets Hrabar " has opened its doors for young people, who strive to develop their knowledge and skills, to form professional competence. Today, the first-year students also join us and I wish them enterprise and ambition. I welcome the parents who are here to share this day with us," said the Rector of Varna Free University Prof. Galya Gercheva, D.Sc.




"I wish you to meet the new academic year with the next level of ambitions and goals set in order to achieve the next acceleration on the road to your successful career and your personal formation," said the President of the University Prof. Anna Nedyalkova, D.Sc. in her address. She congratulated the first-year students with the right choice they made. "Dear colleagues, I would like to offer you to take the mission of the university - to be a constructive, useful for the state and for your city university and to join in all those formations that are related to the transformation of Varna into a decent student and youth destination - "Varna - City for People" Laboratory, the Institute for Integrated Municipal Governance ... You can join in all the formations where students create for the worthy attention and future city of Varna, " Prof. Nedyalkova also pointed out.

"I think that this year we can offer our students not only history, we can offer them the way to the future. The strategy we are proposing is an ambitious decision to create and implement a new model of higher education that has already been recognized at European level and by our partners internationally. In this new model, we want to incorporate and approbate the professions of the future. You will see in our updated academic profile entrepreneurship training, as a partnership with the Silicon Valley, you will see the training in circular economy, which is supported and stimulated with the participation of the European Commission, the Bulgarian Parliament and the Ministry of Environment and Water. You will see all models of education for the digital world, all models of intelligent security systems." The President of Varna Free University thanked the lecturers and the administrative staff for an extremely difficult summer on the way to creating the new as a counteraction to the general decline in demand for the educational product, of unfair competition and of all that could have doomed the university of failure.





"The new model of education, which the university has developed and implemented is a model of partnership!", Prof. Nedyalkova said. She turned to the guests with a deep gratitude and appreciation: "You are not just guests, you are our partners - without your participation, we could hardly create and implement this model."

The students, Prof. Nedyalkova wished to be themselves in the lecture halls, without any others’ thoughts and suggestions, to oppose, seek and find the truth.






On behalf of the Metropolitan of Varna and Veliko Tarnovo, Father Tzvetan served great blessing of the water for health and prosperity.




Prof. Nedyalkova presented the student booklets to the nineteen winners of the Varna Free University Scholarship Programme "I will study and succeed in Bulgaria".





On behalf of the scholarship holders, Tony Georgieva, a first-year student of Law, wished everyone a successful academic year.





One of the important partnerships that Varna Free University has implemented this year is with the Bulgarian Entrepreneurship Center Foundation and the InterCulture Foundation of the American Financial Consultant and Investment Manager Larry Biehl. The result of this partnership is the only master's degree programme in entrepreneurship in which mentors and lecturers are entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley in the United States. The training in the programme starts in October and is entirely in English. For the training of the first students for the 2018/19 academic year, 30 scholarships are provided. Over 70 were the candidates who took part in the selection procedure. Among the highest scorers is Petya Atanasova from Varna, who received her student booklet personally from the President of Varna Free University.




"I would like to thank the management of Varna Free University for the opportunity to take part in the master's degree programme in Entrepreneurship. There is also another reason for I am extremely excited - for the first time, 15 years ago, I crossed the threshold of this university and what I learned then gave me the opportunity to succeed and fulfill many of my dreams. I believe that the opportunity to learn again will help me to know more, to succeed more and to be able to do more, thank you,"said Petya Atanasova, scholarship holder of the master's degree programme in Entrepreneurship, to the audience.




The ceremony continued with the awarding of certificates of achievements and prizes to the first-year students who were admitted with the highest grades. They received their student booklets from the Rector of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" - Prof. Galya Gercheva, D.Sc.




An address on the occasion of the beginning of the academic year on behalf of the Erasmus students was delivered by Leia Corelli, a student from the University of Modena, Italy.





"I thank the management of the University for the effort it puts to establish Varna as a centre with a high standard in education", said in his address to the audience the Mayor of the Varna Municipality Mr Ivan Portnih. "The results are fully in line with the effort of the municipality to promote Varna as a City of Knowledge. Our common mission is to make young people choose Varna not only as an attractive place for education but also as a place for successful professional development. To you, dear students, I wish you to be healthy, brave and daring in your dreams, to gain a great deal of useful knowledge which to apply in Bulgaria, in our city. Be healthy, successful academic year! ".




"I am also excited, I feel a student, that's a great feeling," said Mr  Stoyan Pasev, Regional Governor of the Varna Region. He congratulated the young people with the successful choice they made and assured their parents that they are in safe hands. "Rely on them, we also rely on them, that intellect shoul not leak out of the city and the state," the governor also said.




In her speech, the Chairperson of the Court of Appeal in Varna Mrs Vanuhi Arakelian saw the symbolism of today and the rain as a sign of success during the new academic year. She stressed the successful and effective partnership of Varna Free University with all the judiciary authorities in the city and congratulated the students for choosing to stand on the side of science, interest, knowledge, the new, the challenge of discovering new horizons. Dear students, these people will teach you not only the subtle difference between knowledge and learning, they will teach you, give you the courage and arguments to oppose the crowd, when you need to have your own life causes and defend them .", said Mrs Arakelyan.

The ceremony ended with an address delivered by the Deputy Chairperson of the State Agency for Metrology and Technical Surveillance, Gen. Kiril Voynov. "Varna Free University is a symbol of a higher education institution where the professor-teaching staff are people with established authority, both in Bulgaria and abroad," he said. "Dear students, be proud and spread the glory of Varna Free University". Gen. Vojnov presented the President of the university with the gold plaque of the Agency.





On the occasion of the opening of the new academic year, Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" received greeting addresses from friends and partners.





Hosts of the official ceremony were Neli Georgieva, second-year student of Law and Aleksandar Ivanov, fourth-year student of Psychology – both scholarship holders of the Scholarship Programme "I will study and succeed in Bulgaria".

 
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