Precision Mitochondria
Backed by £66m, this programme sits within the Programmable Physiology opportunity space and aims to create a foundational toolkit for engineering the mitochondrial genome in vivo.
Funding: Standardisation, Translation, and Replication Partners – Request for Proposal
Submit your application by 09 November 2026 (13:00 GMT)
A core part of the Precision Mitochondria programme is the exchange of information between 19 different Creator teams working across its four technical areas: delivery, expression, maintenance and transfer, to accomplish the programme’s goal of making the mitochondrial genome programmable in vivo. A capability by one team may unlock progress for several others, provided they can assess the evidence, reproduce the method and adapt it to their own research pipelines and systems. Enabling that exchange is central to the programme’s design.
This fifth Technical Area – Standardisation, Translation, and Replication (ST&R) aims to ensure that individual advances can be translated into shared capabilities. Working with our Creators, partners working in this area will support the documentation and distribution of methods, materials, and practical know-how by establishing shared benchmarks, evidence and reporting standards, and coordinating independent evaluation and reproduction. ST&R was deliberately excluded from our initial funding round so that we can scope this area against the needs of our live portfolio.
What we’re looking for
We are seeking ambitious proposals from teams able to build and operate a shared standardisation, translation and replication (ST&R) capability for the programme. This is a contract for an independent partner with no stake in which technical approach succeeds, whose role is to work with capability holders and coordinate access, evaluation and replication across the programme. Its value lies in helping the programme use its collective capabilities: making specialist expertise accessible, enabling teams to build on one another’s results, and supporting the integration of successful components. As technologies mature, ST&R should also help prepare them for wider use beyond the programme.
We are agnostic as to institutional type, and welcome established service providers, research and metrology institutes, national centres, consortia hosted across existing institutions, startups, and organisations proposing to constitute a new body for the purpose. We are looking for biological, measurement and experimental-design expertise alongside experience of standards, inter-laboratory studies, reference materials, method transfer or replication. Deep mitochondrial expertise is welcome but not essential where you can demonstrate credible access to it and relevant experience in establishing shared capability in an unsettled field.
How to apply
Proposals should be submitted through ARIA’s application portal as a PDF of no more than 8 pages, excluding permitted annexes.
Read the Request for Proposal for the full scope, selection criteria, and submission requirements.
Proposal submission deadline: 09 November 2026 (13:00 GMT)
Notification of selection for discussions: 27 November 2026
Target contract start date: February 2027
Resources
Clarification questions
If you have any additional questions, please use the chat function on this page for the quickest response – you'll find the icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. It can guide you to the right information or connect you with the ARIA team if needed. We’ll update this page regularly with questions and answers.
Nb: clarification questions that need to be reviewed by the ARIA team should be submitted via the chat function no later than 26 October 2026. Clarification questions received after this date will not be reviewed.
The projects we have funded were selected from teams and individuals who applied to our previous funding calls for this programme. You can read more about these archived calls below.
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