Reporting and policies

Transparency Data

Quarterly reporting on our procurement pipeline contracts and financial transactions.

ARIA was created to be bold and agile, focusing on long-term transformation rather than quick wins. In our first year, we have built a strong foundation supporting that mandate: building a dedicated team, robust operations and infrastructure, and developing a new approach to funding R&D aimed at catalysing breakthroughs. Over the course of our first year, we developed seven opportunity spaces – areas we believe are ripe for discovering new technologies that seem intractable today but could prove critical for the UK long-term. These spaces span climate science, neurotechnology, AI and more. From these opportunities spaces, we launched our first two funded programmes – Scaling Compute and Safeguarded AI – and first set of opportunity seed awards in Nature Computes Better. Throughout this period we have prioritised engagement with experts across the R&D ecosystem. Through workshops, public calls for feedback, and open solicitations, we’ve invited input to help us consider different directions and surface new ideas – on the shape of our research programmes, as well as ARIA’s approach and operations.

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Over the last quarter, we published our final set of programme theses, outlining our ambitions to advance the frontiers of neurotechnology, robotics, and climate monitoring. As we drive towards turning those ambitions into reality, we selected the first round of R&D Creators (recipients of ARIA funding) in our opportunity space Nature Computes Better and launched seed funding in Scoping Our Planet.

To help convert the research we fund into tangible impact, we launched a call for Activation Partners to help us catalyse entrepreneurial talent and venture creation across our opportunity spaces. The shape of these partnerships will be driven by the creativity, imagination, instincts and experience of our selected partners, but could include ideas like providing entrepreneurial training to our Programme Directors, attracting capital and new talent from the ecosystem into our opportunity spaces, or hosting a set of regular convenings focused on science translation.

As we continue to build the infrastructure to support our Programme Directors and the researchers we’re funding, we’ve now hired a set of technical specialists to work closely with our PDs, providing technical advice, evaluating research, and driving the execution of projects on a day-to-day basis.

Our procurement pipeline for the next three months reflects our immediate priorities: awarding funding to more Creators across the R&D ecosystem, launching more multi-year programmes and opportunity seed awards, and working with entrepreneurial partners who can help us deliver on our mission.

We will continue to report on our expenditure on cost on a quarterly basis, including information on funded projects. To find out more about our activities to date, read our Corporate Plan here.

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This quarter marked significant milestones in ARIA’s journey towards unlocking groundbreaking research and delivering transformative breakthroughs for society.

With Exploring Climate Cooling now live, we’ve launched solicitations for programmes from our entire first cohort of Programme Directors, in AI safety, synthetic biology, climate monitoring, robotics, neurotech, and more. ARIA-funded research is underway in universities, startups and private organisations throughout the UK and abroad. In Q2, we awarded opportunity seed funding to R&D Creators in Nature Computes Better and issued our first awards for our Safeguarded AI and Scaling Compute programmes.

To maximise the impact of the research areas we’re exploring, we also announced R&D partnerships with nine deeply technical and highly entrepreneurial organisations – from world-leading research labs to pioneering science accelerators. Our Activation Partners will play a crucial role in translating our research into tangible impact for the UK, bridging the gap between scientific discovery and real-world applications.

Our procurement pipeline reflects our immediate priorities and ongoing commitment to fostering innovation. We’ll develop our research portfolio by awarding more seed and programme funding across the R&D ecosystem and plan to launch bespoke activities designed to inject our opportunity spaces with capital, ideas and talent alongside our Activation Partners. With our projects and programmes progressing, we’re now selecting the next group of visionary leaders for our second cohort of Programme Directors, set to begin in early 2025.

As we move forward, we will continue to report on our expenditure and costs on a quarterly basis, including information on funded projects. To find out more about our activities to date and our vision for the future, please read our Corporate Report here [PDF].

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This quarter, ARIA has made significant strides in advancing our mission to deliver transformative R&D. Key milestones include the allocation of funding to Creators, holding a recruitment process for our second cohort of Programme Directors (PDs), and the hiring of critical leadership roles.

We’ve now awarded £110 million worth of funding to 82 “big-if-true” projects that have the potential to redefine what’s possible across our Scaling Compute and Safeguarded AI programmes and our Scoping our Planet, Nature Computes Better and Smarter Robot Bodies opportunity spaces.

As we scale, we’re hiring key talent, including a new Chief Technology Officer and a team of Frontier Specialists. These experts will work alongside our Programme Directors to ideate, refine, and explore new programme directions.

We’ve also been moving forward with the selection of our second cohort of Programme Directors, who will play a pivotal role in launching new opportunity spaces and uncovering innovative pathways within existing ones.

Our immediate priorities for the next quarter focus on three key areas: expanding funding to more Creators throughout the R&D ecosystem, announcing our second cohort of Programme Directors, and deepening collaboration with entrepreneurial partners to accelerate our mission delivery.

We will continue to report on our spending and project funding each quarter. To find out more about our activities to date, read our Corporate Plan here.
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In our second year, we’ve begun to scale the ambition we set out in year one — extending our model, growing our portfolio, and deepening our commitment to long-term, transformative science and engineering. We launched our first set of seven programmes, and multiple seed calls, allocating more than £400 million in funding to the R&D ecosystem over the next three to five years, in areas ranging from robotic dexterity to synthetic plant biology. Our portfolio now includes over a hundred projects across universities, start-ups, and private organisations.

We also launched our Activation Partners initiative — partnerships with nine deeply technical, entrepreneurial organisations, from world-class research labs to cutting-edge science accelerators. They’ll play a vital role in developing talent, accelerating routes to market, and creating the conditions to help ensure the breakthrough R&D we fund translates into real-world impact.

With our second cohort of Programme Directors now in place, we’re expanding into new scientific domains — broadening ARIA’s reach and unlocking breakthroughs with the potential for outsized societal and economic impact.
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Policies

ARIA’s mission is to pursue new technological options that are currently intractable but have transformative potential for humanity. Research at the edge of the possible often means there is limited research or societal consensus, and requires a highly responsible approach.

Find out more about our approach to ethics and social responsibility in the design and delivery of programmes, and how we handle the professional ethics and integrity of the research we support.

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This policy sets out the principles and rules for declaring and managing conflicts of interest at ARIA. ARIA’s objective is to ensure that the influence of third parties does not compromise our decision making or independent judgement. Find out more about this policy, which is applicable to anybody working with ARIA.

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This policy sets out ARIA’s requirements in respect to research and innovation involving animals. This policy is based on the UKRI Policy on Research and Innovation Involving Animals. ARIA has adopted this policy to help contribute to consistent standards across the research community in the UK, making minor changes to account for differences in operating model.

Find out more about our approach to funding in this area by downloading the policy below.

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This policy sets out ARIA’s requirements in respect to clinical trials.

Find out more about our approach to funding in this area by downloading the policy below.

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Reports

This is ARIA’s first Annual Report and Accounts and covers the period from its establishment on 25 January 2023 to 31 March 2024.
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Read ARIA's second Corporate Plan. Discover our programme areas, the key role played by our Activation Partners, lessons from the past two years and what’s next for ARIA.
Read the Corporate Plan 2025
ARIA’s Corporate Plan 2024
Read the Corporate Plan 2024

Register of Interests

This register of Board, Committee Member + Programme Directors interests includes public appointments, directorships, business interests and affiliations.

Personal shareholdings, interests of minimal value, recently expired interests, and the interests of connected individuals, have been disclosed but not published. We’ll refresh and publicly update this register every quarter.

Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) Responses

This is a disclosure log of ARIA's responses to requests under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 which include material likely to be of wider public interest.

Summary of request:

Date of request: 5 August 2024

"Please confirm whether the final award decisions have been taken for ARIA’s Scoping Our Planet project." "Please provide the names of each organisation which has been allocated money under ARIA’s Scoping the Planet project. For each grant/organisation, please also include a. The value of the grant b. A summary of the project c. The research outputs to be delivered 3. Please also state how many proposals were received in total for Scoping Our Planet."

Summary of response:

Date of responses: 23 October 2024, 18 February 2025 and 27 February 2025

The information provided as part of this response is included in the attached document.
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Summary of request:

Date of request: 25 April 2025

"Please provide details for all geoengineering activities (research, experiments, pilots, or deployments) including planned activities up to 2030": including "project details", "costs and funding", "substances and methods", "oversight and collaboration", and "transparency and public access".

Summary of response:

Date of response: 20 June 2025

Full details of this response are provided in the attached document, including:
- Exploring Climate Cooling - extracts from website including the list of applicants who will receive funding, anticipated start dates for projects, locations where activities will be conducted and descriptions of projects
- Initial proposals submitted by applicants who will be the recipient of ARIA funding (not yet finalised)
- Advanced Research and Invention Agency Act 2022 and ARIA Framework Agreement
- Programme thesis - Exploring Climate Cooling
Please note that the proposals included are only the initial research proposals submitted by the applicants. In many cases they do not represent the final version of the project which ARIA is funding. Details of the agreed projects can be found on the programme page - Exploring Climate Cooling Programme.
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Summary of request:

Date of request: 25 April 2025

"Please provide information relating to geoengineering" including "documents, correspondence, research proposals, internal briefings, funding decisions or commissioned work held by ARIA", "past, current or proposed funding awarded by ARIA", "records of public consultation or engagement (or internal discussions about such consultation)", "ethical assessments, environmental impact assessments, or internal risk reviews concerning the social or environmental consequences of geoengineering or solar dimming projects", "records of meeting or correspondence with third parties" and "any legal or policy documents relating to the UK's obligations under international agreements".

Clarification received: 9 May 2025

Information limited to the 21 applicants who received ARIA funding and finalised documentation detailing the research proposals.

Summary of response:

Date of response: 23 June 2025

Full details of this response are provided in the attached document, including:
- Exploring Climate Cooling – extracts from website including the list of applicants who will receive funding and an outline of the corresponding projects.
- Initial proposals submitted by applicants who will be the recipient of ARIA funding (not yet finalised)
Please note that the proposals included are only the initial research proposals submitted by the applicants. In many cases they do not represent the final version of the project which ARIA is funding. Details of the agreed projects can be found on the programme page - Exploring Climate Cooling Programme.
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Summary of request:

Date of request: 26 April 2025

"I am seeking details regarding any projects involving the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) and GE Engineering (or General Electric) that pertain to atmospheric or environmental experimentation" including "project information", "study locations", "risk and environmental controls", "oversight and regulation" and "Potential human health/wildlife health/environmental health risks".

Summary of response:

Date of response: 23 May 2025

Full details of this response are provided in the attached response letter.
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