Science Minister George Freeman has announced the formal establishment of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), an independent body that aims to create transformational research programs with the potential to create new technological capabilities for the benefit of humanity.
This move is a key part of the government’s plans to build a better future with innovation at the heart of growing the economy and improving lives. Freeman stated that the UK has a long history of scientific discovery and pioneering technology, from the invention of the steam engine and discovery of DNA to the first computer and Formula 1 telemetry. As the global race for science and technology leadership heats up, the government is committed to cementing the UK’s position as a Science Superpower.
ARIA has been designed with a unique level of freedom, putting trust in the decisions of experts in their field and empowering them to quickly allocate funding in support of their ambitious vision. The organization has been allotted an £800 million budget and aims to become a global super lab for frontier science and technology.
The CEO of ARIA, Dr. Ilan Gur, said that he could not imagine a better board of directors to oversee ARIA’s formation. Guided by their experience and judgement, ARIA will make bold bets that leverage the strengths of the UK research system to drive world-changing breakthroughs.
The appointments of Dr. Ilan Gur and Matt Clifford MBE last year, as ARIA’s founding CEO and Chair respectively, demonstrate the UK’s ability to attract global scientific and entrepreneurial talent as well as the continuing strength of our research base.
Today also marks the announcement of 5 further board members, recently appointed to help ARIA realize its vision. The newly appointed Non-Executive Directors, joining the government Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance, are Stephen Cohen, a UK Civil Service Commissioner and a Commissioner for the Gambling Commission, who has over 40 years’ experience in asset management, in Asia, Europe and the USA; Professor Sir David MacMillan, a Nobel Prize-winning organic chemist and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University; Sarah Hunter, a public policy expert who has worked across Silicon Valley and London, who is the Global Director of Public Policy at X, the Moonshot Factory; Dame Kate Bingham (DBE), Managing Partner at SV Health Investors and former Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce. Additionally, Antonia Jenkinson has been appointed as an Executive Director and Chief Financial and Operations Officer. She joins from the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), where she was Chief Financial Officer.
This group brings together unique experience from across the science, technology, and investment sectors, ensuring ARIA invests in the high-risk research that offers the best chance of high rewards, supporting ground-breaking discoveries that could transform people’s lives for the better. The creation of ARIA as an independent body will help to cement the UK’s position as a global science superpower, building on the record funding for R&D announced by the Chancellor in his most recent Autumn Statement.
Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash
