Assoc. Prof. Radka Vladkova, PhD | Curriculum Vitae

Contacts | CV | Publications

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Education

• 1990 – PhD in Biological Sciences, BAS, Central Laboratory of Biophysics. PhD Thesis title “Influence of local environment on the spectral characteristics of chlorophylls”
• 1980 – M.S. in Atomic Physics, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Physics. M.S. Thesis title “Volume holographic diffraction gratings”

Positions

• 2025–current: Retired Scientist; Specialist-Physicist, Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering-BAS
• 2015–2025: Associate Professor in Biophysics, Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering-BAS
• 2010–2015: Senior Assistant Professor, Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering-BAS
• 1994-2010: Research Associate, Institute of Biophysics-BAS
• 1981-1994: PhD student and Research associate, Central Laboratory of Biophysics-BAS

Main areas of research

• Biophysics
• Bioenergetics
• Molecular spectroscopy
• Biophysical chemistry
• Structural biology
• Plant biology
• Ecology

Field of research

Chlorophyll containing model and native systems; Specific and nonspecific intermolecular interactions; Hydrogen bonds; Solvent effects on photophysical characteristics of solutes; Mechanism of Chlorophyll a aggregation; High-energy selective laser spectroscopy (Hole-burning, Site-Selection Spectroscopy), ns laser pulse spectroscopy and time-resolved emission spectroscopy (TRES); Fluorescent probes; Lipid phase transitions and non-lamellar phases; Photosynthetic energy conversion and electron transport; Pulse-Amplitude-Modulated (PAM) Chlorophyll fluorescence; Linear and alternative (cyclic and pseudo-cyclic) electron transport flows in oxygenic photosynthesis; Mehler and Mehler-like (FLV-mediated) reactions; Regulation of oxygenic photosynthesis; Short-term adaptive mechanisms of oxygenic photosynthesis; Kinetics and mechanism of state transitions; Hydrophobic mismatch; Role of Chlorophyll a in cytochrome b₆f complex; Biomolecular structure and dynamics; X-ray crystal structure analyses of cytochromes b₆f and bc₁, and photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes; Abiotic stress in plants; Role of stress-induced nitric oxide and brassinosteroids for regulation of electron transport; Effect of heavy metals and UV-B radiation; Biosensors. Cyanobacteria, green algae and higher plants (gymnosperms and angiosperms); Toxic cyanobacteria, Control of cyanobacterial blooms, Drinking water safety

Specializations and research abroad

• 2025: Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China – 8 months
• 2019: Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Center, Szeged, Hungary – 4 weeks
• 2018: Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Center, Szeged, Hungary – 2 weeks
• 2016: Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Center, Szeged, Hungary – 2 weeks
• 2015: Kuyshu University, Fukuoka, Japan – 6 months
• 2014: Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Center, Szeged, Hungary – 2 weeks
• 2009: Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Center, Szeged, Hungary – 2 weeks
• 1998–2003: Max-Born Institute of Nonlinear Optics and Short-Pulse Spectroscopy, Berlin, Germany – average 6 x 2 months
• 1987: Institute of Soil Science and Photosynthesis, Pushchino, Russia – 1 month
• 1987: Institute of Physics, Tartu, Estonia – 2 months

Scientific activity

(long periods of interruptions because of illnesses in the past)

• 38 publications incl. 8 individual papers, PhD thesis and two patents;
• > 410 citations (all abroad, incl. Dissertations, 115 citations from all are citations of two individual papers);
• H-index 9 (Web of Science, Scopus)
• Project leader from BG side of 4 international and 3 national projects; Investigator in 7 international and 7 national projects;
• Supervisor of 1 M.S., 1 B.S. Diploma theses, Mentor of 1 B.S. student

Awards and personal grants

• Awarded a 2024 CAS-ANSO long-term invitation fellowship for Associate Professors for cooperative research at the Institute of Urban Environment, Xiamen, China, 2025 for six months.
• Awarded Elsevier Reviewer Recognition Certificate from the Editors of BBA-BIOENERGETICS, 2016
• Awarded JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Long-term Invitation Fellowship for Overseas Researchers in Japan, 2015 for six months.
• Selected and included with presentation in: Agriculture and Food Science Researcher Biographical Sketches and Research Summaries (2013) H. J. Escobedo, S. M. Madrigal (Eds.), Radka S. Vladkova, Ch. 51, pp. 197-198. Nova Science Publishers, Inc. NY
• One of the invitation only included scientists with a presentation, only after anonymous recommendation to the scientific editors, in the Springer series of 7 books “Who’s Who in Fluorescence 2003”… “Who’s Who in Fluorescence 2009”, C. D. Geddes, J. R. Lakowicz (Eds.), 2003…2009.
• Awarded several DFG and one SFB fellowships for specialization and joint research at the Max-Born Institute of Nonlinear Optics and Short-Pulse Spectroscopy, Berlin, Germany, 1998–2003
• Awarded many grants from the Scientific Meetings Organizations for participation as a young scientist at scientific meetings in Europe, 1989-1997
• Awarded a Bulgarian Academy of Sciences grant for specialization at the Institute of Physics, Tartu, Estonia and at the Institute of Soil Science and Photosynthesis, Pushchino, Russia, 1987 for 2 and 1 months, respectively.
• TNTM Award for the best M.S. Thesis, Sofia University, Bulgaria, 1980.

Membership in scientific societies

• International Society of Photosynthesis Research (ISPR)
• Federation of the European Biochemical Societies (FEBS)
• Union of Scientists in Bulgaria
• Bulgarian Society of Biomedical Physics and Engineering
• Union of the Physicists of Bulgaria
• Group of Photobiology in Bulgaria (Presently, the group does not exist)

Reviewer of foreign international journals with impact factor

• Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Bioenergetics
• European Biophysics Journal
• Environmental Technology
• Interdisciplinary Sciences – Computational Life Sciences
• Journal of Fluorescence
• Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids
• Photosynthesis Research

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Evaluator of project proposals for the Bulgarian National Science Fund, Member of scientific jury.