Daily Times

The UK government is set to launch a new independent research body, named Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA), to fund high-risk, high-reward scientific research.

United Kingdom’s next generation of pioneering inventors will be backed by the initiative, as the government plans to cement UK’s position as a global science superpower, the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced on Friday Feb, 19.

“By stripping back unnecessary red tape and putting power in the hands of our innovators, the agency will be given the freedom to drive forward the technologies of tomorrow, as we continue to build back better through innovation”, said Mr. Kwarteng.

ARIA will be tasked with funding high-risk research that offers the chance of high rewards, supporting ground-breaking discoveries that could transform people’s lives for the better. It will be led by prominent, world-leading scientists who will be given the freedom to identify and fund transformational science and technology at speed.

After the scientific revolution in 17th century, Europe stimulated innovation and discovery in Britain. “The UK’s scientific community has a proud history of discovery, producing iconic inventors such as Alan Turing whose imagination and creativity changed the world as we know it”, said Science and Innovation Minister Amanda Solway.

“ARIA will unleash our most inspirational scientists and inventors, empowering them with the freedom to drive forward their scientific vision and explore game-changing new ideas at a speed like never before”, she added.

The creation of ARIA will continue this tradition, backed by £800 million, to fund the most inspiring inventors to turn their transformational ideas into new technologies, discoveries, products and services.

The new agency will be independent of government and led by some of the world’s most visionary researchers who will be empowered to use their knowledge and expertise to identify and back the most ambitious, cutting-edge areas of research and technology, helping to create highly skilled jobs across the country. It will be able to do so with flexibility and speed by looking at how to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and experimenting with different funding models.

It is also said that the new agency will have a much higher tolerance for failure than is normal, recognizing that in research the freedom to fail is often also the freedom to succeed.

ARIA will be based on models that have proved successful in other countries, in particular the influential US Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) model.