Advanced Research and Invention Agency

The Advanced Research and Invention Agency, or ARIA, is a research funding agency of the UK government, announced on 19 February 2021 and formally established on 26 January 2023.

History
The Advanced Research and Invention Agency Act 2022 created the legislative framework for the agency and it was formally established as an independent research body in January 2023.

With a similar remit to that of its US equivalent, DARPA, the agency will fund "high-risk, high-reward" research. Organisationally, it will be small, independent of UKRI (the main UK government funding body), with autonomy to operate at speed innovate funding, (for instance with X-Prize type inducements around research goals), rapid "seed" funding, with successful seeds entering a much smaller tier of large-grants, and bonuses for accomplishing research goals.

The announcement was broadly welcomed by prominent figures in the UK's scientific establishment like Jenny Read and Gemma Bale who will be involved in ARIA. Although some have called for a clearer remit and direction for the agency.

As of 2024, the agency's initial budget is confirmed to be £800 million.

Labour Party Member of Parliament Dawn Butler said in March 2021 that the fact ARIA is exempt from Freedom of Information requests would "raise alarm bells" about how taxpayer money is spent, in light of a scandal over how the UK government procured PPE contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On 20 July 2022, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced that ARIA's first CEO would be Ilan Gur and its first Chair would be Matt Clifford. In early 2023, it was announced that Nobel prize-winning organic chemist Chemistry Sir David MacMillan and Dame Kate Bingham entrepreneur who headed the successful Vaccine Taskforce, would join the board, advancing the high-risk/high-reward research agenda.