The mandate of the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre (CMRC) is to study and promote the work and legacy of Cyril and Methodius in Bulgaria and abroad, and to coordinate scholarly research in this field.

The research strategy of the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre is based on the following principles:

  1. A comprehensive focus on all aspects of the Cyrillo-Methodian legacy and the investigation of the full range of complex and multidimensional issues associated with it. These include all Slavic, Greek, and Latin sources concerning the life and work of Cyril and Methodius; the biographies, public activities, and literary work of the Slavic Apostles; the life and work of their disciples and followers in Bulgaria during the 9th–10th centuries; the emergence and development of Slavic literacy and writing; Cyrillo-Methodian traditions in Bulgaria and Europe from the Middle Ages and the Bulgarian National Revival to the modern period; the history of scholarship in the field of Cyrillo-Methodian studies; and the transformation of the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition into cultural heritage.
  2. An interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach. The research agenda is addressed through interdisciplinary studies drawing on philology (textual criticism, literary history, and linguistics), history, palaeography and codicology, theology, art history, and bibliographic and information sciences.
  3. Integration of Cyrillo-Methodian research into the priorities of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research (2007–2013), in particular within two sub-themes of Theme 8: 8.3.3.1, “Cultural interactions and multiculturalism in European societies”, and 8.5.2, “Differences and commonalities in Europe.”
  4. Integration of the CMRC research paradigm into operational programmes and strategies, including Horizon 2020, supporting the research, preservation, promotion, and intergenerational transmission of the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition as an integral component of Bulgarian cultural heritage and as a productive field of artistic expression.

In accordance with this strategy, the following priority research areas have been identified:

  1. Comprehensive study of the translated and original works of Cyril and Methodius and of their disciples and followers who worked in Bulgaria during the 9th–10th centuries, together with their publication in scholarly editions.
  2. Comprehensive study and publication of Slavic, Greek, and Latin Cyrillo-Methodian sources.
  3. Comprehensive study of written sources documenting the activities of Bulgarian scholars and writers of the 9th–10th centuries, preserved in later Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian copies.
  4. Comprehensive study of Cyrillo-Methodian traditions from the Middle Ages to the present day in Bulgaria and in Western, Central, and Southeastern European countries, and their presentation as a shared European cultural value.

These priority areas define several principal groups of research tasks:

  1. Scholarly editions of the works of Cyril and Methodius.
  2. Critical editions of Slavic, Greek, and Latin Cyrillo-Methodian sources.
  3. Research and publication of textual monuments originating in Bulgarian literary centres of the 9th–10th centuries, based on the later copies in which they have survived.
  4. The Cyrillo-Methodian legacy in the context of contacts between Eastern and Western Europe in the Middle Ages, based on Latin and Slavic sources documenting the functioning of Cyrillo-Methodian traditions in Europe as a connecting element within medieval European written culture.
  5. Slavic writing as the third writing system in Europe: its social significance in the past, present, and future.
  6. Research, cataloguing, digitisation, and dissemination of monuments of secular and religious art dedicated to Saints Cyril and Methodius and their disciples. This includes the creation of exhibitions for Bulgarian cultural institutions abroad, museums and other cultural institutions in Bulgaria and abroad, and the support of the cultural activities of Bulgarian lectorates and Bulgarian schools abroad.
  7. Compilation and publication of a Cyrillo-Methodian bibliography of international scholarly and popular-scientific literature published since 1940.