SOPHIA
Synergies for Open Planetary Health Innovation Action
SOPHIA strengthens Circle U.’s alliance-level planetary health innovation capacity by connecting faculty-led due diligence, creative co-creation, EIT-labelled learning, venture accompaniment, and EIT KIC synergies under Topic 2.
Selected under Topic 2: EIT-HEI-2025-BUILDING-SYNERGIES, SOPHIA supports the Circle U. European University Alliance in becoming a stronger innovation ecosystem for planetary health. The project focuses on helping universities move from passive research producers to active partners in the early validation, shaping, and de-risking of innovations that connect human health, ecological sustainability, digital capability, cultural adoption, and food system resilience.
At the centre of SOPHIA is the Innovation Mission Officer model. Innovation Mission Officers are trained professionals who work alongside TTOs and KTOs to mobilise faculty expertise, convene expert panels, assess venture potential, and produce stronger pre-investment validation before key IP and commercialisation decisions are locked. This model is combined with creative, cultural, and participatory methods that help ensure innovations are not only technically feasible, but also socially grounded, usable, and adoption-ready.
SOPHIA will support ventures through a Dual Tandem architecture that combines technical, clinical, regulatory, digital, market, and societal acceptability assessment. It will also develop EIT Label-oriented education through a Planetary Health Innovation Certificate and an IMO Professional Programme, while strengthening regional ecosystem alignment through S3 mapping, policy labs, and KIC referral pathways. By linking Circle U. with 28DIGITAL, EIT Culture & Creativity, and wider EIT Food-related planetary health synergies, SOPHIA aims to create a transferable model for alliance-level research valorisation and mission-driven innovation.
Partners on this project
Paris Cité University (Lead Partner)
Aarhus University
Circle U. AISBL
Fondazione Start Attractor
Foreningen Uddannelsesinitiativet i Struer
King's College London - University of London
MEDICEN PARIS REGION
Schmidt Hammer Lassen K/S
University of Belgrade
University of Pisa
University of Vienna
Université catholique de Louvain
ERGANEO SAS
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA)
Sound Hub Denmark A/S
University of Oslo
WITHINGS
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