Public research body · Science policy · Est. 2022
The Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) is a UK government R&D funding agency established to fund high-risk, high-reward research and development in underexplored areas where scientific or technological breakthroughs may be too speculative for more conventional funding routes. ARIA is described as a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology (DSIT), and it operates with “independence” and time-limited leadership, while maintaining accountability through Parliament and Board oversight.
An update on our work with our Activation Partner, Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP), who have brought together leaders from science, health and business to form the Cambridge NeuroWorks consortium.
All InsightsBrowse our collection of research insights, opportunity space and programme updates, and expert perspectives.
HomeAdvanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) is an R&D funding agency built to unlock scientific and technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone.
InsightsStay up to date with the latest insights from our opportunity spaces and programmes. Explore expert commentary, funding updates, and breakthrough discoveries across neurotechnology, robotics, nature-inspired computing, and more.
Funding | Precision MitochondriaBacked by at least £55m, this programme sits within the Bioenergetic Engineering opportunity space and aims to create a foundational toolkit for engineering the mitochondrial genome in vivo. Learn more about funding in this programme.
Synthetic PlantsBacked by £62.4m, this programme aims to catalyse a new generation of major crops that are more productive, resilient, and sustainable.
Predicting Evolution: a possible ARIA programmeAs Programme Director Yannick Wurm explores a new programme, he shares an early draft of his thinking and invites you to provide feedback to help refine the concept.
Funding opportunitiesDiscover our open funding calls and look back on past ones.
Funding | Scaling TrustLearn more about funding in the Scaling Trust programme.
FundingLearn more about funding in the Hypersensory Intelligence - Olfactory Perception programme.
Sustained Viral ResilienceBacked by £46m, this programme sits within the Sculpting Innate Immunity opportunity space and seeks to create a new class of medicines that provide durable, broad-spectrum protection against respiratory viruses by engineering the innate immune system.
Universal FabricatorsARIA's Universal Fabricators programme seeks to harness proteins to produce a functionally universal range of materials at scale.
An ARIA insight post focused on supporting future climate innovators (context and specific details in the post).
The missing sense in machine intelligenceARIA’s Programme Director Claire Donoghue discusses why digital olfaction is a key missing capability and how ARIA’s Hypersensory Intelligence: Olfactory Perception programme aims to make the chemical world computationally legible.
From signals to decisions: Forecasting Tipping Points enters Phase 2ARIA describes its Forecasting Tipping Points programme entering a second phase to move toward building a usable early warning system for the North Atlantic, including a September 2026 related funding call and co-design for usability.
Olfactory Perception: our latest funding callARIA publishes details of its latest funding call for the Hypersensory Intelligence: Olfactory Perception programme, including programme-context and application framing.
Doubling down on Earth-scale dataAn ARIA insight discussing work on Earth-scale data and how it supports ARIA’s broader research agenda.
HASH – making AI legible in the real worldARIA’s insight post describes HASH as making AI legible in real-world contexts, tied to ARIA’s efforts around reliable, trustworthy AI and systems that operate outside controlled lab settings.