Prof. Ekaterina Kozhuharova PhD, DSc graduated from the Faculty of Biology at Sofia University in 1989 with a Master’s.
She was Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacognosy between 2001 and 2003. Since 2003 Associate Professor and Reader of Pharmaceutical Botany, and since 2020 – Full Professor.
She defended her PhD Thesis in Botany 06.03. on “Reproductive biology of species of the genus Gentiana presented in the Bulgarian flora” in 1994.
She defended a DSc Thesis on “In situ and ex situ characteristics in the biology of rare and endemic plants, conditions for conservation of the gene pool” in 2018. She has a specialty degree in “Medicinal plants and herbs” obtained by Post-Gradual Education in MU-Sofia, as well as a Postdoc University of Marseille, France, University of Haifa, Israel, University of Uppsala, Sweden, University of Palermo, Italy. She is an Erasmus Exchange lecturer in University of Palermo, Italy and JUST, Jordan. Three of her PhD students defended successfully their Doctoral Theses.
She teaches Pharmaceutical botany and is an organizer and a leading lecturer of the elective course “Essential oils and aromatherapy”.
The research work and contributions of Prof. Ekaterina Kozhuharova are in the field of ethnobotany, reproductive systems and pollination ecology of medicinal plants, invasive plant species, biodiversity conservation and many others.
She is the author and co-author of over 160 scientific publications, 5 textbooks, 7 monographs (book chapters) with over 1300 citations in indexed journals in J. Citation Reports by Clarivate, Scopus by Elsevier, Web of science by Clavirate, Google scholar, etc.
Expert in the field of ethnobotany, pollination and breeding systems of medicinal and rare plants, melisopalinology, ecosystem services and conservation of rare plants.
Еditorial board member of two scientific journals and a guest editor of a Special Issue of Diversity published by MDPI. Reviewer in more than 15 scientific journals such as Plant Systematics and Evolution, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry Biodiversitas, Journal of Biological Diversity, Plants MDPI, Phytotaxa, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Pharmacia, African Journal of Agricultural Research, Journal of Herbal Medicine, Journal of Medicinal Plant Research, Scientific Research and Essays, Acta Botanica Croatica etc.
Member of expert groups on – Invasive plants and pollinators interactions, EU; expert in Ministry of Internal Affairs, Permanent working group “Medicinal plants” at the Ministry of Environment and Water and others. Member of professional organizations and associations: Bulgarian Botanical Society, Bulgarian Scientific Society of Pharmacy, Bulgarian Phytochemical Association, Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators.

Research projects
● Project 2022 SMN, MU-Sofia “Factors for Optimal Quality and Quantity of Lavender Essential Oil – Reproductive Systems, Pollination, and Pollinators” No. D-153/14.06.2022 PROJECT with incoming No. 7339/18.11.2021
Research team: Leader Prof. E. Kozhuharova, DSc
● Project 2020–2024 “Environmental Protection and Risk Reduction from Adverse Events and Natural Disasters,” National Scientific Programme (NSP), approved by Council of Ministers Decision No. 577/17.08.2018 and funded by the Ministry of Education and Science (Agreement No. D01-230/06.12.2018) – participant as expert
● Project 2020–2024 “Conservation of European Biodiversity through Exploitation of Traditional Herbal Knowledge for the Development of Innovative Products,”
Horizon 2020, H2020-MSCA-RISE-2018, Proposal number: 823973, Proposal acronym: EthnoHERBS – participant as expert
● Project 2020–2024 “Assessing Floral Complexity as Plant Vulnerability Indicator of the European Flora” within the European COST project Conserve Plants – participant as expert
● Project 2022–2026 European Union NextGenerationEU economic recovery package via the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria, Unit within the “Research University” at MU-Sofia – participant as established researcher
● Project 2025–2026 Integrated Technologies for Optimization of Bioactive Thymus Products (ThymoBioTech) Funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU, Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria, Unit within IBER-BAS (Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) – participant as expert

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/510462
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=8637598500
https://ras.nacid.bg/dissertation-preview/15174
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6795-9660