The Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry (IGIC) is one of the leading chemical institutions of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which brings together the traditions and the most significant achievements of the Bulgarian scientific community in the field of inorganic and analytical chemistry. In the period 2016 – 2017, IGIC was ranked first in the field of Chemical Sciences and Technologies in the independent evaluation of the scientific activities of all institutes and universities in Bulgaria (commissioned by the Commission to the Ministry of Education and Science). Due to its credibility and scientific reputation, IGIC has been selected as the coordinator of the National Center for Excellence in Mechatronics and Clean Technologies, established in 2018 under OP Science and Education for Smart Growth.

Currently, the scientific staff of the Institute is a total of 58 scientists, including 1 Corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 5 Professors, 27 Associate professors, 16 Senior assistants and 9 Assistant professors.  The research is organized in three thematic areas of modern chemical sciences: inorganic materials science; chemistry of solid surfaces and chemical analysis. In response to the current challenges, the following thematic-oriented tasks are being carried out:

• Materials for eco-energy, optical and biomedical technologies;
• Materials and processes for environmental protection and combating climate change;
• Utilization of natural resources and environmental monitoring;
• New approaches for instrumental and theoretical analysis of materials.

The implementation of all these complex studies is possible through the modern infrastructure created at the Institute with the financial help of the EC, the operational programs, the National science fund of Bulgaria and the „Alexander von Humboldt” Foundation.