EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL MEASURES IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The improvement of higher education and its transformation into a source of economic growth and innovation is a shared priority for the EU countries. Public-private partnerships are a successful mechanism that increase and motivate the sharing of resources, knowledge and achievements in response to the underfunding of the higher education institutions and improves the efficiency and effectiveness in spending public resources. In the Bulgarian higher education sector, PPPs are an underutilized opportunity in key areas such as research and development and innovative cooperation between the universities and the business sector. In the context of the benefits of PPPs in higher education, the article summarizes the leading European instruments designed to enhance the role of universities in the area of research and innovation. By assessing the implementation of key existing opportunities at national level and summarizing the reasons for the "modest" local capacity for effective use of the designated funding, the article focuses on the need for establishment of an institutional environment that encourages partnerships.