The event was officially opened by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, on July 7, 2014 at "Sofia Hotel Balkan"

First International Conference Mathematics Days in Sofia was organized and conducted by the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 7th to 10th of July, 2014.

As their main purpose the organizers indicated their intention Mathematics days in Sofia to become a traditional meeting of Bulgarian mathematicians working in the country and abroad, with colleagues from prestigious research centers in the world to share the latest scientific advances in mathematics and informatics.

Along with purely scientific aspects of the conference - the exchange of scientific information, the other main goal is through its realisation to strengthen links between the mathematicians in Bulgaria and representatives of the Bulgarian mathematical diaspora.

It has long been known that in the past 25 years a number of prominent Bulgarian mathematicians and computer scientists left the country to continue their work in prestigious research centers in the world. In the same period a large number of young people from Bulgaria completed their education in mathematics and informatics in some of the largest university centers in North America and Europe. A whole new generation of young Bulgarians work successfully abroad. The conference was attended by 60 such compatriots.

As a confirmation of their interest in this prestigious international event for the Conference in Sofia have registered nearly 300 scientists and there were presented over 200 reports. The program was attended by about 100 mathematicians from Bulgaria and more than 130 well-known international scholars from a number of leading research centers in over 40 countries such as Belgium, Britain, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Canada, Korea, Poland, Russia, USA, France, Switzerland, Japan and other.

Among them was the world-renowned mathematician Professor Maxim Kontsevich from France, winner of the Fields Medal and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics for 2014.

Special guest of the conference was Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon - President of the European Research Council

He presented the activities of the Council in a lecture on July 8th. The lecture provoked interest among a wide range of scientists and was attended by representatives of all other scientific fields in Bulgaria. One of the purposes of this presentation was to encourage Bulgarian scientists from home and abroad to apply for research projects to be carried out in Europe and, in particular, in Bulgaria.

More detailed information about the Conference: http://www.math.bas.bg/mds2014/.