6- 8 February 2013

Second visit of the ReProForce experts, Prof. Vidjei Pandey, Prof. Marcus Sperandio and Mrs. Zoya Damyanova, and the stakeholder workshops was held during three days - 6, 7 and 8 February 2013 in the Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBIR-BAS). The workshops were attended by more than 95 stakeholders, leaders of the work packages of the project, all involved in the project from IBIR, representatives from IBIR^,S partner organizations, representatives of the universities, of IVF centers, from business, BAS, from administrative organizations bound up in the problems of the biology and immunology of reproduction in animals and humans.

On the 6 February the workshop with stakeholders in animal reproduction was held. The meeting was opened by Assoc. Prof. Elena Kistanova – scientific expert of the project. Mrs. Zoya Damyanova analyzed the results of the interviews with stakeholders, partners in research and practical activities of IBIR, on the problems of animal reproduction. The survey was carried out on the basis of the concrete questions. The presentation was accompanied by objective conclusions and followed by a discussion on concrete questions, based on the outcomes of the survey. The entire work on the problems of animal reproduction was followed by the wrap-up session on the workshop and recommendations for the future development of IBIR activities.

On the 7 February, a workshop with stakeholders in human reproduction was held. The workshop was opened by Assoc. Prof. Margarita Mollova - Project Coordinator. She presented the problem and welcomed the participants. Detailed information and analysis of the results from the interviews with stakeholders, partners of IBIR on human reproduction was presented by Mrs. Z. Damyanova. The presentation was followed by discussion on the specific questions based on the results of the survey. In this discussions the representatives of the research centers, universities, IVF centers, IBIR^,S partner organizations and business actively participated. The workshop on human reproduction was followed by the wrap-up session on the workshop and recommendation for the future activities in the concerned field.

During the third day the workshop with IBIR^,S staff was held. The workshop was opened by the Director of IBIR – Prof. Dimitrina Kacheva and she made a brief presentation of the Institute. The scientific secretary of BAS, prof. Pasheva attended the meeting. Mrs. Z. Damyanova presented analytical information on the results from the interviews with IBIR^,S staff. Based on the results of the survey depth discussion was conducted related to the: administrative structure of IBIR, future scientific program, the possibilities for the rational use of the purchased by the ReProForce project equipment, opportunities for research funding, the need for active participation with projects under national and international programms, active work on increasing the visibility of IBIR at home and abroad and more. Work continues with wrap-up session on the workshop and discussion on the finalization of the content structure of research strategy of IBIR.

During all workshops and discussions the ReProForce experts - Prof. Vidjei Pandey, Prof. Marcus Sperandio and Mrs. Zoya Damyanova presented their valuable personal analyzes, evaluations, and recommendations for future directions of research and development of IBIR-BAS.

The presented data of the questionnaires and the discussions on the problems of reproduction in humans and animals and scientific development of IBIR, the views of national and international IBIR^,S partners, representatives of the business, universities , scientific and administrative organizations, are shown the following: research and practical activities of IBIR: The reinforcement of research capacity of IBIR with new technical and methodological possibilities obtained by ReProForce project was highly appreciated; It is necessary IBIR to make further efforts to promote additional activities for new collaborations; it was underlined that the business is open to new collaborations on the problems addressed in research and practical activities of IBIR as cryobiology of gametes, estimation of gametes biological potential, embryotransfer in animals, studies for increasing the success rate in IVF technology in humans, endometriosis, implantation, stem cells in reproduction, ovary function, etc; Participation in local and international collaborative research projects and PhD programmes.