
Programmable Plants
Opportunity seeds support ambitious research aligned to our opportunity spaces. We’re looking to challenge assumptions, open up new research paths, and provide steps towards new capabilities.
Can we programme plants to remove more CO2, improve food security, and deliver medicines to those in need?
We launched a call for bold ideas within the Programmable Plants opportunity space, offering to support projects with up to £500k each.
This seed funding call is now closed.
Selected R&D Creators will be announced in the coming weeks. Click below to receive updates on funded projects and follow their progress.
What's in scope?
+ Ideas that sit within the Programmable Plants opportunity space. By this, we mean your proposal should show how your idea either aligns with or challenges the assumptions of the Summary, Beliefs, or Observations in the opportunity space;
+ Both land plants and aquatic plants (incl. green algae);
+ Microorganisms influencing plants, provided that they're being used to alter an aspect of a plant’s form or function;
+ Ideas that could change the conversation about what's possible or valuable;
+ Ideas that range from early-stage, curiosity-driven research through to pre-commercial science and technology.
What's out of scope?
+ Ideas that are within scope of the Synthetic Plants programme (applications for this have now closed);
+ Cyanobacteria;
+ Ideas that are undifferentiated or are likely to happen without ARIA’s support;
+ Commercial or close-to-commercial stage products.
Who are we looking to fund?
We welcome applications from the entire R&D ecosystem. We’re keen to hear from early career entrepreneurs and researchers, and those from a broad range of sectors and backgrounds, including public sector research organisations and charities. We care more about your idea and intrinsic motivations than we do about your CV.
What budget and timeline can you propose?
We provide funding from £10k up to £500k per project, inclusive of VAT (where applicable) and all associated costs (both direct and indirect).
There is no minimum length for a proposed project but the maximum length is three years.