Reporting and policies
Pursuing potentially transformative technologies requires a highly responsible approach. At the heart of this responsibility is a commitment to transparency and accountability.
Learn more about our policies and reporting standards below.
Transparency Data
Quarterly reporting on our procurement pipeline contracts and financial transactions.
- See the dataARIA 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.
- See the data
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. This work backs research aimed at breakthroughs ranging from catalysing a new generation of major crops that are more productive, resilient, and sustainable, to reimagining safety standards for transformational AI – all fundamental leaps toward technologies that seem intractable today, yet could prove critical for the future of UK industries. 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 in place from April, we’re expanding into new scientific domains — broadening ARIA’s reach and unlocking breakthroughs with the potential for outsized societal and economic impact.
- See the data
This quarter, significant developments signal our growing momentum: our second cohort of Programme Directors (PDs) are now in place, opening up bold new opportunity spaces from Sculpting Innate Immunity, Bioenergetic Engineering to an expanded Scoping Our Planet – and backing a new wave of Creators across Safeguarded AI, Synthetic Plants, Exploring Climate Cooling and Robot Dexterity.
We’ve also strengthened our leadership and the organisation behind it, welcoming Ant Rowstron as our inaugural Chief Technology Officer, and three new Non-Executive Directors with entrepreneurial experience across science and innovation – key steps in building ARIA”s ability to support breakthrough R&D at scale.
Meanwhile, in another clear sign of momentum, our Activation Partners are beginning to show what’s possible: Cambridge NeuroWorks has launched its first Frontier Fellows programme and Renaissance Philanthropy has introduced its UK Horizons initiative – helping pave new routes to talent and impact.
The next quarter will see us deepen these partnerships, launch five more opportunity spaces, and continue to grow our Creator network, building the conditions for breakthrough research to thrive. You can find out more about our activities and vision for the future in our 2025 Corporate Plan.
Policies
- Read the policy
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.
- Read the policy
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.
- Read the policy
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.
- Read the policy
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.
Reports
- Read the report
This is ARIA’s first Annual Report and Accounts and covers the period from its establishment on 25 January 2023 to 31 March 2024.
- Read the Corporate Plan 2025
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 2024
ARIA’s 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.
- Read the document
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.
- Read the document
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.
- Read the document
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.
- Read the document
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.
Contact us
For enquiries or complaints regarding ARIA or this website, our Contact page has information on the best way to get in touch.
How we work
We seek out exceptional scientists and engineers and empower them to turn their ideas into reality.
Funding opportunities
Learn about how we fund and explore our current and past funding opportunities.