The National Institute of Archaeology with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences covers the complete study of the culture of tribes and peoples who have occupied present day Bulgaria from the remote past until the 18th century. NIAM-BAS is a national center and coordinator of all field research in Bulgaria and exercises scholarly and methodological control on it. The Museum of Archaeology hosts the most numerous collections in Bulgaria and its exhibitions reveal it as one of the most important centers in the country for promotion of the cultural heritage of present day Bulgaria. Its academic and museum potential turns NIAM-BAS into the biggest research archaeological unit in southeast Europe. NIAM-BAS was established in 1949 as a follower and successor of the Department of Valuables - part of the Library established in Sofia in 1878-1879 and reformed into a National Museum in 1892 - and the Bulgarian Institute of Archaeology (1921), which was the first academic institute in Bulgaria.

With view to the specific features of its subject matters, NIAM-BAS consists of the following structural units: five chronological and subject departments (Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, Department of Thracian Archaeology, Department of Classic Archaeology, Department of Medieval Archaeology, Department of Numismatics and Epigraphy), a Problematic Group (Department for Interdisciplinary Research), two Branches for excavations at the Old Bulgarian capitals (in Shumen and Veliko Tarnovo) and a Museum of Archaeology. The structure of the Museum of Archaeology was changed in 2003 in order to improve its efficacy: two departments – Exhibitions and Depositories – were set up. The research, administrative, economic and financial issues at NIAM-BAS are serviced by several service units (Editorial Group, Archives, Accountant’s Office, Secretariat). Dr. Lyudmil Vagalinski, Associate Professor, is Director of the NIAM-BAS, Dr. Bonny Petrunova, Associate Professor, and Dr. Maria Reho, Associate Professor, are Vice-Directors, and Dr. Maria Gurova, Associate Professor, is a Scientific Secretary.