The GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics (FMI) officially opened the 2025/2026 academic year for the third cohort of students in the joint master’s programme “Big Data Technologies.”

This year, 18 new students have joined the GATE community – young specialists and professionals from various sectors, united by their ambition to acquire advanced skills in data analysis, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies.

GATE Institute took part in a national workshop dedicated to the development of the European Language Data Space (LDS), co-organized by the Institute for Bulgarian Language and the European LDS initiative, bringing together representatives from academia, public administration, and industry to discuss the future of language technologies in Bulgaria.

As part of the GATE Academic Days at the Bulgarian Pavilion of Osaka Expo 2025, the GATE Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kwansei Gakuin University – one of Japan’s most renowned private universities, founded in 1889 and recognized for its long-standing tradition in architecture, urban planning, and innovation.

On October 4, 2025, during the GATE Academic Days held at the Bulgarian Pavilion of Osaka Expo 2025, Bulgaria’s leading institute for Big Data and Artificial Intelligence signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Tsukuba – one of Japan’s most prestigious academic institutions, with more than 150 years of history and a consistent presence among the country’s top ten universities.

The GATE Institute has been awarded the prestigious Seoul Smart City Prize 2025 in the category Tech-InnovaCity – Institution. Bestowed by WeGO (World Smart Sustainable Cities Organisation) and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, this recognition places Bulgaria among the global leaders in smart cities and technological innovation.

The GATE Institute marked the achievements of its interns with a two-day closing event for the 2025 Summer Internship Program, held under the motto “From Intern to Innovator.” This year, 24 talented students from Bulgaria, Europe, and Japan joined the program, working over three months on cutting-edge research projects in the fields of big data and artificial intelligence.

For five days – from September 28 to October 2, 2026, Sofia will become an arena for world ideas for the future of cities, and the GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” will gather international expertise and turn Sofia into a place where scientists from all over the world present their ideas and research related to the analysis, management and visualization of geospatial data for the creation of sustainable cities and intelligent societies.

As part of the 20th NATO Emergency Management Exercise “BULGARIA 2025”, the GATE Institute at Sofia University hosted a special demonstration day for high-level officials on September 9, showcasing live new technologies for crisis preparedness and response.

The high-level seminar “Digital Synergies: Bulgaria–Japan Dialogue on Digital Twins, AI, Data Spaces & Urban Futures”, organized by the GATE Institute and the Center for Computational Sciences (CCS) at the University of Tsukuba, under the auspices of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Tokyo, was held on 29–30 August 2025.

As of 2 August 2025, new rules for the development and use of general-purpose AI models – technologies powering systems such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and other generative AI solutions have come into force in the EU under the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). These rules introduce requirements for transparency, copyright, cybersecurity, and risk management.