The first call for proposals for the BRAINSTORM project launched by the Organising Committee of the World University Winter Games, to be held in Turin from 13 to 23 January 2025, has been already closed. This will be the seventh time that the event will be held in Italy, following Sestriere 1966, Livigno 1975, Belluno 1985, Tarvisio 2003, Torino 2007 and Trentino 2013.

Turin will be the eighth city to host more than one Winter Universiade after Spindleruv Mlyn (1964 and 1978), Innsbruck (1968 and 2005 together with Seefeld), Lake Placid (1972 and last edition in 2023), Jaca (1981 and 1995), Sofia (1983 and 1989), Zakopane (1993 and 2001), and Strbske Pleso (1987 and 2015 together with Osrblie and Granada). 

The BRAINSTORM project brings a powerful innovation to the Games invented by Primo Nebiolo in 1959, and it is no coincidence that it all starts again in Turin: for the 2025 Games, the city will welcome thousands of talents not only from nine winter sports but also from nine multidisciplinary fields selected by the four universities of Piemonte. 

A working group representing the Università di Torino, the Politecnico di Torino, the Università del Piemonte Orientale e the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo and EDISU, consisting of Cristopher Cepernich, Laura Montanaro, Paolo Pomati, Michele Fino and Donatella D'Amico, with the organisational coordination of Paolo Verri and Valentina Bonfanti, has selected 9 topics to be studied in order to improve the future of the planet: Sustainability, Life, Democracy, Energy, Aerospace, Cities, Ageing, Inequality and Food.

The project, promoted throughout Italy with the support and contribution of the Camera di Commercio di Torino, also in collaboration with the CRUI and the EUCA network of Colleges of Merit, was based on the idea of creating teams of four students each, who wanted to propose projects in the various fields,  with a prize of 1,000 euros for the best five in each category. 

At the end of the call, 33 projects were eligible for the evaluation phase. The 142 young participants came from all Italian regions; the Politecnico di Torino was the leader with seven candidate teams, but there was also a strong presence from Bari with six projects between the University and the Polytechnic of the Apulian capital; there was also excellent participation from Emilia Romagna and Lombardia. 

In the coming weeks, the Torino 2025 Organising Committee will bring together the working group to make the final selection and indicate how many will be admitted to the final phase, which will take place at the same time as the World University Games. The next step will be the opening of the International Challenge, which will start on 13 January 2024 and run open until 30 June 2024.