Nature Computes Better

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 redefine the way computers process information by exploiting principles found ubiquitously in nature?

From unravelling the basis of natural computation in single-celled organisms to demonstrating a commercially viable probabilistic processor, we're funding an array of projects, with up to £500k each, across individual research teams, universities and startups to maximise the chance of breakthroughs.

Meet the Creators

Cell Learning for Natural Computing

David Jordan, Independent researcher

Physically-Reconfigurable Computing: Learning how to learn

Neil Gershenfeld, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(Bio)active Matter Based Computation

Juliane Simmchen + Kimia Witte, University of Strathclyde

Probabilistic Computing with Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

Shannon Egan, Brock Doiron + Ashraf Lotfi, Deep Science Ventures

Embodied Cognition in Single Celled Organisms

Kirsty Wan, University of Exeter

Analog and Digital Representation of Distributions of AI Computations

Phillip Stanley-Marbell, Signaloid

Creating Scalable Manufacturing for Optical Computing

Martin Booth, University of Oxford

Brain-inspired Polychromic Spatially Embedded Neuromorphic Networks with Unprecedented Memory

Danyal Akarca, Imperial College London

Lossy Computational Models

Viv Kendon + Susan Stepney, Universities of Strathclyde and York

Two-Point Neurons-Inspired Economic and Ethical Neuromorphic Co-Design

Ahsan Adeel, University of Stirling

"There is an urgent need for technology advancement in this area and there are many impressive ideas about how optical methods can be used to improve future computing technology."

Martin BoothUniversity of Oxford

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.

Suraj Bramhavar

Programme Director

Suraj is an electrical engineer. His work focuses on how we can redefine the way computers process information to build dramatically more efficient computers. Suraj joined ARIA from Sync Computing, where he was co-founder and CTO, which optimises the use of modern cloud computing resources.

David Stringer

Programme Specialist

David trained as a chemist at UCL before working in materials science at Imperial College London, developing nanocarbon devices for sensing, photovoltaics, and energy storage. Prior to ARIA, he built sales and operations functions at early-stage startups focusing on physics-based software for automotive and consumer electronics industries. David supports ARIA as an Operating Partner from Pace.

Paolo Toccaceli

Technical Specialist

Paolo is an electronic engineer by training, and has spent majority of his professional career in technical R&D roles for large high-tech companies, such as HP and Alcatel-Lucent. He returned to academia to earn a PhD in Machine Learning, then joined Graphcore, a startup that develops innovative AI hardware.