How public bodies contract for research they cannot specify in advance
Research procurement has a structural problem: the buyer is purchasing an answer to a question, and if the answer were known the contract would be unnecessary. Public bodies deal with this by buying in phases. A feasibility or concept phase is awarded to several suppliers in parallel, each paid a modest fixed sum; a subset is then funded to prototype; a smaller subset again reaches demonstration. Each phase is a competition among the survivors of the last, so a bidder should read the notice for the phase structure and the progression criteria before pricing anything.
Intellectual property is the term that decides whether the contract is worth winning. Arrangements range from full assignment of results to the buyer, through a licence to the buyer with the supplier retaining ownership and the right to commercialise elsewhere, to background and foreground IP splits that must be catalogued before work starts. Development-focused schemes often deliberately leave ownership with the supplier so that a market can form around the result, while procurement of research for internal use tends toward assignment. The two produce very different bid economics.
Evaluation weights the proposal's scientific and technical merit, the team's record, and the credibility of the risk assessment, and it rewards candour about what might fail. Deliverables are reports, data and demonstrations rather than products, so acceptance criteria are written around defined technical readiness levels or measurable milestones. Where human participants, animals, personal data or dual-use technology are involved, ethical approval and export control clearance are conditions precedent with their own timetables, and they are a common cause of a project starting months after award.
This section describes how this category is bought generally, across the public buyers that publish it. The figures elsewhere on this page are measured for this market alone.
Who buys research & development in Bulgaria?
GlobalGov holds 98 research & development records from 73 distinct buying organisations in Bulgaria. The most frequent publishers are International buyer (6 records); International buyer (5 records); International buyer (4 records); International buyer (3 records); International buyer (3 records); International buyer (2 records). Between them the 6 largest account for 23% of everything published, so buying here is spread across many separate authorities.
| Buying organisation | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| International buyer | 6 | 6.1% |
| International buyer | 5 | 5.1% |
| International buyer | 4 | 4.1% |
| International buyer | 3 | 3.1% |
| International buyer | 3 | 3.1% |
| International buyer | 2 | 2.0% |
What are research & development contracts worth in Bulgaria?
87 of the 98 records publish a contract value. The median is $138,456 and the largest single published value is $7.3M. By size, 36 under $100k, 41 between $100k and $1M, 10 between $1M and $10M. The remaining 11 publish no value at all, so every figure here describes the priced subset only, and values are as stated by the buyer rather than as finally awarded.
| Contract size | Records | Share of priced |
|---|---|---|
| under $100k | 36 | 41% |
| between $100k and $1M | 41 | 47% |
| between $1M and $10M | 10 | 11% |
| above $10M | 0 | 0.0% |
How long do bidders get to respond to research & development tenders in Bulgaria?
Across the 25 Bulgaria research & development notices that publish both a publication date and a closing date, the median response window is 34 days. A quarter of them allowed 31 days or fewer and a quarter stayed open for more than 35. Not one of them closed within a fortnight of being published, so the window on this market is consistently workable.
How often are research & development tenders published in Bulgaria?
Bulgaria publishes about 3 notices a month in this category, 32 in the last twelve months. Over the last three years there were 34, spread across 39 separate months of activity since 22 December 2016. June is historically the busiest month. The most recent was published 7 September 2026.
How does Bulgaria compare with other research & development markets?
Among the 35 countries where GlobalGov holds a comparable research & development market, Bulgaria ranks 21st by number of records. The largest is Australia (13,059 records against 98 here). Within Bulgaria itself, research & development is the 34th largest of the 53 procurement categories tracked here.
Where do the Bulgaria research & development records on this page come from?
These 98 records are collected from 3 official sources: TED (95), the Bulgaria national tender archive (2), UN Global Marketplace (1). GlobalGov is an independent aggregator and is not affiliated with any of them; each record links back to the notice on its issuing portal. The set is rebuilt nightly, and the counts on this page were taken on 2026-10-01.
Open Research & Development tenders in Bulgaria
Showing 10 of the 10 notices open in this category today. Openness uses the same definition as the Bulgaria market page: active, not marked awarded, cancelled, closed or expired, and either closing in the future or published within the last 90 days with no stated closing date.
Bulgaria – Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses) – Доставка на два броя преносими газанализатори за измерване на водород и кислород
Bulgaria – Laboratory reagents – „Доставка на медицински изделия и консумативи в изпълнение на Договор BG16RFPR002-1.014-0002-C01 по проект „Център за компетентност по персонализирана медицина 3D и телемедицина, роботизирана и минимално инвазивна хирургия (ЦК „Леонардо да Винчи“), финансиран от Програма „Научни изследвания, иновации и дигитализация за интелигентна трансформация", по обособени позиции"
Bulgaria – Laboratory reagents – Доставка на лабораторни консумативи и серуми за типизиране
Bulgaria – Laboratory reagents – Доставка на лабораторни реактиви и консумативи - част 1
Bulgaria – Laboratory reagents – „Доставка на медицински изделия и консумативи в изпълнение на Договор BG16RFPR002-1.014-0002-C01 по проект „Център за компетентност по персонализирана медицина 3D и телемедицина, роботизирана и минимално инвазивна хирургия (ЦК „Леонардо да Винчи“), финансиран от Програма „Научни изследвания, иновации и дигитализация за интелигентна трансформация", по обособени позиции"
Bulgaria – Investigation and security services – Предоставяне на охранителни услуги за нуждите на ОПУ София по две обос. поз: Обп 1 „Осъществяване на физическа нощна, невъоръжена охрана, охрана чрез средства за видеонаблюдение и охрана със сигнало -охранителна техника (СОТ) на имоти- държавна собственост, стопанисвани от АПИ- ОПУ София“ Обп 2 „Избор на изпълнител за Транспортиране и охрана на ценни пратки на територията на гр. София“
Bulgaria – Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses) – „Доставка, монтаж, инсталиране, пускане в експлоатация и поддръжка на лабораторно и изследователско оборудване за нуждите на Института по оптически материали и технологии "Акад. Йордан Малиновски" - БАН (ИОМТ-БАН), по обособени позиции
Bulgaria – Laboratory reagents – ДОСТАВКИ НА ЛАБОРАТОРНИ КОНСУМАТИВИ И РЕАКТИВИ ЗА НУЖДИТЕ НА КЛИНИЧНА ЛАБОРАТОРИЯ И РЕАКТИВИ ЗА ТРАНСФУЗИОННА ХЕМАТОЛОГИЯ ПРИ МБАЛ „Д-Р СТОЙЧО ХРИСТОВ” ЕООД, ГРАД СЕВЛИЕВО, ПО ОБОСОБЕНИ ПОЗИЦИИ
Bulgaria – Laboratory reagents – Доставка на реактиви и лабораторни консумативи за нуждите на медико-диагностична клинична лаборатория
Other procurement categories in Bulgaria
Medical EquipmentVehicles and FleetVehicle MaintenanceCivil ConstructionFuel SupplyIct EquipmentArchitecture and EngineeringBuilding ConstructionLaboratory EquipmentFood Aid and NutritionOffice FurnitureSoftware DevelopmentManagement ConsultingRoads and Highways InfrastructurePharmaceuticalsWaste ManagementBuilding MaterialsAgricultural EquipmentMaintenance & RepairFacilities and CleaningGround TransportTelecommunicationsFinancial AdvisoryEnergyUniforms ClothingHospital ConstructionTraining and Capacity BuildingTransportationCatering ServicesIT ConsultingPrinting PublishingMail CourierRoad & InfrastructureMilitary LogisticsCommunications PrFreight and LogisticsPower TransmissionCommunity DevelopmentStaffing AugmentationWeapons SystemsWater Supply ProjectsOil Gas UpstreamRenovation RehabilitationSecurity ServicesHealthcare ServicesWarehousingSanitation SewerageFinancial ServicesTraining & EducationDatabase ManagementAudit and AccountingHelpdesk Support
Research & Development procurement in other markets
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