In June, the Center of Excellence UNITe in Sofia hosted the training camp for Bulgaria’s participation in the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence 2026 (IOAI 2026), which will take place in Kazakhstan this August. The national team is currently being formed, with eight students set to be selected from an extended squad of sixteen to represent the country at the prestigious international competition.
The selection process includes an intensive training programme, during which the students attend specialized lectures in the fields of machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing. The training will be followed by two competition days featuring qualifying examinations, the results of which will determine the final composition of the national team. In July, the selected students will undergo additional preparation for their participation in the Olympiad.
The International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence is a relatively new competition, with its first edition having been held in 2024. Since then, its format and regulations have continued to evolve and be refined.
This year, one of the leading figures in the preparation programme is Assist. Prof. Melania Berbatova, who was recognized in 2025 in the “John Atanasoff Award – Inspirer and Creator of Talent” category during the 23rd edition of the presidential initiative John Atanasoff Award. She is one of the leaders of the Bulgarian team and a lecturer in the training programme, together with her colleague Alexis Datseris. Additional lecturers included Tsvetina Vasileva from DXC Technology and Ralitsa Dardzhonova, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.
