PhD & Students Seminar 2026
Topic: The New Marketing in the AI and Social Media Era
This training session introduces doctoral students to the transformation of marketing in the era of artificial intelligence and social media. It explores how AI-driven tools, data analytics, and algorithmic personalization are reshaping how organizations understand consumer behavior, design campaigns, and communicate with audiences. The session highlights the shift from traditional mass marketing to highly targeted, data-driven strategies enabled by machine learning, predictive analytics, and automated content creation.
Participants will also examine the strategic role of social media platforms in modern marketing ecosystems, including influencer marketing, real-time engagement, and user-generated content. The training discusses emerging opportunities and challenges such as ethical considerations, data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the growing importance of authenticity and trust in digital communication. By the end of the session, doctoral students will gain a conceptual overview of key trends and research directions shaping marketing in the AI-powered, socially connected environment.
Prof. Dr. Vesselin Blagoev is Professor of Marketing and Management at Varna University of Management. He holds a PhD in Marketing and Innovation Management from the Technical University, Sofia (1996). He has also master degrees in Mechanical Engineering (1974), Management (1976) and Operations management (1977).
Dr. Blagoev has an extensive career as professional manager. He served as Chief Secretary of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria (1994), CEO of the Bulgarian Privatization Agency (1995-1997), Chief Executive Director of Credit Bank PLC (1997-1998), and Editor-in-Chief of BusinessWeek Bulgaria (2006-2008). Currently he is President of the Bulgarian Marketing Association and Board member of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Blagoev authored or co-authored 17 books on Marketing Management, Innovation Management and Cross-Cultural Management, published in Bulgaria, USA, Russia, and the UK, and over 60 articles. He has authored the first textbook on marketing in Bulgaria, and one of the first textbooks on marketing in Russia and the USSR countries. According to Yandex (Russian version of Google), his book on marketing has 40 million citations in publications in Russia and CIS countries.
PhD & Students Seminar 2025
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already transforming almost every industry, including research. This lecture includes the basic concepts and definitions of AI, as well as demonstrations – practical applications that facilitate and improve the work of young researchers. Participants will gain a clearer understanding of these technologies and how to integrate them into their practice.
Основните акценти включват:
How AI works: a brief overview of the process of collecting, processing and analyzing data.
Ползи и ограничения на изкуствения интелект: защо са важни за оценителите и къде се крият рисковете.
Въведение и практикуване на разширените възможности на LLM/GPT.
Proud to have written his first programming code at the age of 6, and his first SQL query later at the age of 12. He has followed closely the technical developments, and has been a front runner pioneer of implementing them as quickly as possible. Has been doing distrohopping way before it was cool, installing the first Linux sometime in 1992 (and moving on to OS/2, Solaris, and BeOS shortly after). Also, he started his first website in 1996, his first implementation of social networks in the educational process in 2005 and later mobile devices in 2010. Marchev has been an avid and curious explorer of crypto markets and block chain since the summer of 2009.
Angel has graduated in finance at the University for National and World Economy as a merit student. He later finished master degree in corporate finance at the Burgas Free University. He pursued a career as a Bank analyst but found it is too formalistic and not enough challenging.
PhD & Students Seminar 2024
Topic: Pathways to Sucess: Navigating Your PhD Journey
The seminar “Pathways to Success: Navigating Your PhD Journey” focused on supporting PhD students and early-career researchers by providing practical guidance for successfully navigating the academic path. It covered key topics such as research planning, time management, stress management, and building an academic career. Participants gained valuable insights from experienced scholars, along with advice on publishing, presenting research, and developing career opportunities after completing a PhD.
Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fathyah Hashim
Associate Professor Dr. Fathyah Hashim serves as the Dean of the Graduate School of Business at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). She specializes in voluntary disclosure, corporate governance, and firm performance. Her research has been published in journals such as the Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance and the Malaysian Accounting Review. Dr. Hashim teaches courses including Accounting for Managers, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Social Enterprise to MBA students. She has held the position of visiting academic at Brunel Business School, Brunel University London, United Kingdom. In her administrative roles, Dr. Hashim has served as Deputy Dean (Academic, Career, and International) and Program Manager for the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program at USM. She is also a Peer Review Team Leader and Accreditation Adviser for The Alliance on Business Education and Scholarship for Tomorrow (ABEST21), reviewing management programs at international business schools. Dr. Hashim holds a DBA and MSc in Accounting from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from the University of Plymouth, UK.