Following last year's success the Innovation for Change project kicked off it's second edition today, at CERN.

The project asks 50 students, with scientific or engineering backgrounds, to work together for the next five months in both Geneva and Turin. The students are split into several groups, but with a common goal: to apply the most advanced technologies to global social challenges, in particular in food and health.

Eight new startup projects will be generated by the intensive work in the coming months. Each of these will be capable of competing on the global market with innovative products or services that also respond to global societal challenges and that match the needs of industrial groups or global organisations. The teams will be supported by Scuola di Alta Formazione al Management of Turin (SAFM) alumni entrepreneurs or those who now work in big industrial groups, along with the scientists of CERN and researchers of Politecnico di Torino. These supporters will help the teams to find advanced tech tools and solutions to create prototypes for their startups that are ready for market entry and development. 

Big industrial companies and global organizations are also collaborating with the teams by selecting relevant social challenges guiding them through a joint effort to find viable innovative solutions: the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Associazione Italiana Ulcere Cutanee, Casillo Group, ENEL and Humanitas.

At the end of the project, scheduled for end June 2017, the teams will share the outcome of their work with a group of companies, entrepreneurs and investors, in a public pitch and expo also attended by the heads of the founding institutions.

The project is promoted by SAFM, Politecnico di Torino and IdeaSquare, a dedicated facility for experimental innovation at CERN.