The Technical University of Gabrovo is a state university conducting teaching for the academic degrees of Bachelor and Master in 18 degree courses and for the academic degree of Doctor in 31 degree courses. It was founded in 1964 as Polytechnical Institute. In 1972 it was transformed into Higher Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering for both full-time and part-time studies. In 1995 the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria gave it the status of Technical University (TU).

The Technical University of Gabrovo was one of the first higher education institutions in Bulgaria to be granted full institutional accreditation by the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency starting from the academic year 1999/2000.

The Technical University of Gabrovo comprises the following structural units:
• Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Electronics
• Faculty of Mechanical and Precision Engineering
• Faculty of Economics
• Technical College of Lovech


Research at the Technical University of Gabrovo is carried out in the following major areas:
• CAD and fine mechanical element and instrument technologies
• Communication engineering
• Driving and control equipment
• Dynamics of machines
• Instrumental equipment
• Machine-building structures and mechanisms
• Mechanics
• Multimedia technologies
• Optimum design of mechanical structures and engineering materials optimization
• Renewable energy sources
• Welding, recovery, electro-technological and heat metal treatment.

The idea of establishing a school of higher education in Gabrovo, a forerunner of the present Technical University, dates back to the 1840s. It was formulated by the Bulgarian educator and scientist Vassil Evstatiev Aprilov and his associate Nikola Stoev (Stefanov) Palausov, both of them born in Gabrovo. On July 30, 1964 the Presidium of the National Assembly issued Decree No. 395 that a Higher Technical Institute for Part-time Studies (HTIPS) should be opened in the town.

The Institute started its first academic year 1964/65 with 1327 part-time students admitted to other technical educational institutions in the country. They studied in the HTIPS during the first three years and then continued and completed their education at the institution they had been originally admitted to. In 1965 Direction No. 177 of the Council of Ministers allowed the HTIPS to have its own quota for admission and training of students, who started and completed their higher education in it. HTIPS was entitled to train part-time students in the degree courses “Technology of Machine Building” and “Electrical Machines and Apparata”. Part-time students in their fourth, fifth and sixth year also continued their studies in these degree courses, irrespective of where they had originally been admitted and enrolled.

Two new degree courses were introduced in Gabrovo Higher Technical Institute by Direction of the Council of Ministers No. 225 of July 18, 1967 – “Semiconductor and Industrial Electronics” and “Precision Engineering”, entitled to an intake of 60 full-time students. On 29th September 1972 the HTIPS was renamed into Higher Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Institute (HMEEI) by a Decree of the State Council.

The senior academic staff for the Institute was mainly recruited from the higher technical institutions in Sofia. Decisive steps were taken for appointment of young lecturers and assistant professors on a full-time basis. The majority of them continued their studies with a postgraduate work and attained academic degrees and titles. At the beginning of the 1970s the HMEEI had its own professors and associate professors, and their number was steadily rising.

Meanwhile the problem with the facilities and equipment provision was also being solved. In the middle of the 1970s the HMEEI-Gabrovo had four comfortable and spacious study buildings, well-equipped lecture halls, laboratories, workshops and other premises. Furthermore, four students’ hostels were built, as well as two new study buildings. A university library was set up, which is now to be housed in a newly built modern and functional building. The university has a well-equipped printing and publishing house bearing the name of Vassil Aprilov. Spread between the Svishtovska and Varovnik streets in the Bazhdar district is the university campus of the Technical University of Gabrovo, a modern European university. A Decree of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria issued in July 1995 gave the HMEEI-Gabrovo the status of Technical University.

The National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency granted one of the first institutional accreditations in the country to the Technical University of Gabrovo, as well as program accreditation for the degree courses leading to Bachelor and Master degrees and 31 research subjects for attaining Doctoral degrees. In September 2001 the Technical University of Gabrovo was accredited by the International Community for Engineering Pedagogics to train engineers for acquiring the qualification of “European Pedagogic Engineer”, which is recognized by the European Union and UNESCO.

At the beginning of 2004 the University acquired a certificate of conformity to the quality management system with the ISO 9001:2000 standard for training for acquiring higher education, postgraduate qualification and research, issued by the German Society for management system certification DQS GmbH and the International Certification Network IQNet DQS.

The Technical University of Gabrovo maintains active contacts with 19 higher education institutions from 11 countries. An essential factor for promoting student and teaching staff mobility, for improving the lecturers’ qualifications, for developing new curricula and syllabi, for conducting joint research, for improving the equipment provision is the participation in international programs, such as Socrates/Erasmus, Socrates/Grundtvig, CEEPUS, Leonardo da Vinci, Scopes, in the Framework Programs of the European Union. The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) has been introduced in all three faculties of the university with the support of the Erasmus Program, which is a prerequisite for development and implementation of European dimensions in teaching, for academic recognition of qualifications and periods of study within the European countries and for extension of student mobility.

University website: Technical University of Gabrovo