The fourth edition of the Summer Internship Program at GATE Institute, part of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, has officially begun under the motto NEXT GATE TALENTS 2026, attracting a record level of interest. This summer, 32 young talents will spend the next three months working on real-world research and innovation projects in the fields of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence as part of the institute’s multidisciplinary teams.
Interest in the program continues to grow. More than 100 students and young professionals applied for this year’s edition. Beyond the impressive number of applications, the quality of the candidates also stands out. This year, the first Centre of Excellence in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in Eastern Europe welcomes senior undergraduate and master’s students with strong academic backgrounds and research potential.
NEXT GATE TALENTS 2026 has attracted participants not only from Bulgaria but also from abroad. Among the selected interns are students from Japan, Ghana, and Hungary, further reinforcing GATE’s international profile and the growing global interest in its research environment.
The greatest interest has been in the Machine Learning & AI and Future Cities research areas. This year, however, GATE will host interns across all of its research domains—from trustworthy computing models and Big Data engineering to information environment analysis and cutting-edge AI technologies.
“Over the past four years, GATE’s Internship Program has become a place where young people confidently and sustainably begin their professional journey in science and high technologies. Every year we welcome increasingly strong candidates who are eager to develop solutions with real societal impact alongside our multidisciplinary team. This is a clear sign that the next generation of researchers and innovators is already here,” said Prof. Sylvia Ilieva, Director of GATE Institute.
During the three-month program, the interns will work side by side with GATE researchers and experts on real projects carried out in collaboration with national and international partners. They will receive dedicated mentorship, gain access to the institute’s state-of-the-art research infrastructure, and contribute to the development of innovative solutions in the fields of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.
For many participants, the internship serves as the first step toward a long-term career at GATE. In recent years, a number of interns have continued as junior researchers within the institute’s projects, turning their summer internship into the beginning of a successful career in science and innovation.
With each new edition, GATE’s Summer Internship Program further strengthens its position as one of Bulgaria’s most attractive internship opportunities in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, bringing together ambitious young people who aspire to transform their knowledge into technologies with a tangible impact on society.