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.
Meet the programme team
Our Programme Directors are supported by a Programme Specialist (P-Spec) and Technical Specialist (T-Spec); this is the nucleus of each programme team. P-Specs co-ordinate and oversee the project management of their respective programmes, whilst T-Specs provide highly specialised and targeted technical expertise to support programmatic rigour.
Angie Burnett
Programme Director
Angie Burnett is a plant biologist and has spent the last decade focusing on understanding the power of plants to solve some of our most pressing challenges such as food insecurity, climate change and environmental degradation. Previously, Angie was a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge.
Nivashinee Krishnakumar
Programme Specialist
Nivashinee has more than five years’ experience in programme management and project delivery. She led high profile projects at a leading global technology consultancy and has worked within delivery management in a variety of industries, ranging from edtech and life sciences to the aviation aftermarket. Nivashinee supports ARIA as an Operating Partner from Pace.
Fabrizio Ticchiarelli-Marjot
Technical Specialist
As a plant scientist with a PhD from Cambridge, Fabrizio has spent ten years advancing plant biology knowledge and its translation to products. Before ARIA, he spent five years working in early-stage tech startups, consulting on lab automation at Synthace for Pharma and Crop Protection companies, then at Gardin where he led the plant science team and headed delivery of the R&D product offering.