Nikolay Popov

Research Fields

• Comparative education: theory, methodology, practice
• History of Comparative education as a science and university discipline
• Bulgarian education: history, current state, comparison to other countries
• International comparative studies on: education policy, education management, finance, structures of education systems, school curricula
• ABC books of native language that are used in Grade 1 of primary schools worldwide
  Comparative studies on pre-service and in-service teacher training

Research Projects

• Bulgarian partner in “Higher Education Reform Network: A collaborative partnership to explore, disseminate and advise on the university of tomorrow: in relation to societal change and lifelong learning needs and in the context of EU enlargement”. European Commission, Brussels. 2001-2004.

• Head of a project entitled “ABC Books in Slavonic Countries: A Comparative Study”. Sofia University Research Fund. 2003-2004.
• Member of the Bulgarian team in: Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, International Study Center, Boston College. 2000-2003.
• Head of the Bulgarian research team in a joint Greek-Bulgarian-Romanian project “Greece - the Balkans - Europe: Peoples and Culture”. Balkan Society for Pedagogy and Education. 1999-2000.
• Individual research project entitled “Comparative Study on Higher Education Acts in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Russia”. Research Support Scheme of the Open Society Institute. 1997 - 1999.

Latest publications

Popov, N. (2006): History of Bulgarian Comparative Education. In: Popov, N., Wolhuter, C., Heller, C., Kysilka, M. (Editors) (2006): Comparative Education and Teacher Training. Volume 4. Bureau for Educational Services & Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, Sofia, 11 - 28.

Popov, N. (2006): An American on Schools in Bulgaria: In Honor of William Russell. Strategies for policy in science and education. No 4, pp. 256-272.

Popov, N. (2007): Bulgaria. In: The Education Systems of Europe. W. Hörner et al. (eds.). Springer, pp. 147-165.

Popov, N. (2007): History of Bulgarian Comparative Education. In: Wolhuter, C., Popov, N. (Eds.) Comparative Education as Discipline at Universities World Wide. Bureau for Educational Services, Sofia, pp. 95-110.

Popov, N. (2007): The Bulgarian Comparative Education Society. In: Masemann, V., Bray, M. & Manzon, M. (eds.) Common Interests, Uncommon Goals: Histories of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies and its Members. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, and Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 268-277.

Popov, N., Wolhuter, C. (2007): Comparative Education: Discipline at Universities World Wide. Strategies for Policy in Science and Education, Vol. 15, No 4, pp. 362-377.

Popov, N. (2008): Comparative Education in Bulgaria. In: Wolhuter, C., Popov, N., Manzon, M., Leutwyler, B. (Eds.) Comparative Education at Universities World Wide. Second Edition. Bureau for Educational Services, Sofia, pp. 27-34.

Popov, N., Wolhuter, C., Heller, C., Kysilka, M. (Editors) (2006): Comparative Education and Teacher Training. Volume 4. Bureau for Educational Services & Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, Sofia, 324 pages.

Popov, N., Wolhuter, C., Leutwyler, B., Kysilka, M., Černetič, M. (Editors) (2007): Comparative Education, Teacher Training and New Education Agenda. Volume 5. Bureau for Educational Services, Sofia, 248 pages.

Popov, N., M. Pironkova (2007): The Education System in Bulgaria. Bureau for Educational Services, Sofia, 288 pages. (In Bulgarian)

Wolhuter, C., Popov, N. (Editors) (2007): Comparative Education as Discipline at Universities World Wide. Bureau for Educational Services, Sofia, 144 pages.

Wolhuter, C., Popov, N., Manzon, M., Leutwyler, B. (Editors) (2008): Comparative Education at Universities World Wide. Second Edition. Bureau for Educational Services, Sofia, 360 pages.

Popov, N., Wolhuter, C., Leutwyler, B., Kysilka, M., Ogunleye, J. (Editors) (2008): Comparative Education, Teacher Training, Education Policy and Social Inclusion, Volume 6, Bureau for Educational Services, Sofia, 272 pages.