What’s new at ARIA…
We've announced our first Creators in Smarter Robot Bodies. Led by teams from across the globe, these seed projects are pushing the boundaries in areas like torque sensing and ultra-high-precision force, locomotion, and versatile bioactuators. Learn more here.
Hear directly from Programme Director Jacques Carolan on what he’s looking to fund in our latest seed call for Scalable Neural Interfaces in this article and apply by 13 Feb.
PD davidad and his programme team Technical Specialist Nora Ammann and Scientific Director Yoshua Bengio, joined Convergent Research's Adam Marblestone to discuss plans for an £18M grant to seed a new organisation to develop advanced AI systems with provable safety guarantees. Listen here and register your interest here.
As we wrap up 2024, we’re reflecting on our journey to date and celebrating some milestones:
🚀 82 Creator teams funded
💷 £110M research funding under contract
🔎 1,714 proposals submitted with 6,856 reviews
🇬🇧 82% of funding awarded to UK-based teams
🌟 8 international organisations attracted to launch UK operations
👥 47-person ARIA team
It's exciting to see momentum building across the community as our opportunity spaces begin to take root. Over the past twelve months, we've awarded £110 million in funding to support teams working on a wide range of projects: from exploring how glacial meltwater travels from the Antarctic glacial margins to the open ocean; to engineering miniature vehicles that respond to external stimuli; and developing foundational theories for safe and reliable functioning of AI systems – and much more.
This is just the beginning. We’re on a journey to empower scientists to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Here are just a few of our early highlights:
More than 82% of our research funding supports UK-based teams, spanning the length and breadth of the country – from St Andrews to Southampton, and Leeds to Exeter – across a wide range of institutions, including 23 universities, 17 companies, 2 independent entrepreneurs, and 1 non-profit.
ARIA funding is driving the creation of new research models, including the UK’s first worker-owned cooperative research labs: GLAiVE and Asterisk Labs.
Our programmes are leading ambitious international organisations to either establish or expand their UK operations. Companies like Rain UK and Normal Computing are setting up here to reimagine the future of AI hardware and build out the UK's capabilities in the field. Through our support, our Activation Partners – including Pillar VC, 50 Years and Convergent Research – are launching new UK programmes to spur the translation of breakthroughs in our opportunity spaces into real world applications.
In 2024, we worked with so many inspiring researchers and scientists who care deeply about creating new science and technology that will transform our daily lives. Central to this community are our Technical Specialists. Read on for more.
Introducing our T-Specs
“I’m looking forward to kick-starting projects, working closely with Creators and being part of the breakthroughs that can create history” –Radhika Gudipati, T-Spec
At ARIA, we believe breakthroughs happen when visionary individuals are empowered to challenge the status quo.
Turning these visions into reality requires a special kind of support team. Enter our Technical Specialists (or 'T-Specs'): scientists and engineers who play a central role in shaping our programmes.
As essential partners to our Programme Directors, T-Specs are involved at every stage of a programme's journey – from initial design through to project selection and oversight. They help define research focus areas, evaluate proposals, and guide technical strategy. Problem solving is at the core of what they do; as T-Spec Fabrizio Ticchiarelli-Marjot puts it, “What excites us most is encountering (and overcoming!) technical challenges and setbacks – because that will be a clear signal that we are truly pushing the boundaries of what is possible.”
T-Specs shape their responsibilities around each programme's unique needs, while helping to build and nurture the communities that sit at the heart of our programmes. "I engage almost on a daily basis with a mixture of leaders in their fields and enthusiastic mavericks," shares Paolo. "The impromptu lunchtime chats with fellow T-Specs on topics beyond my headlights are a particular highlight."
This collaborative approach is already yielding results. As Nora shares, "we're really starting to see movement across important R&D threads, building valuable networks of contributors and collaborators, and ramping up our operational pace."
Our first cohort of T-Specs come from a variety of backgrounds and organisations. Meet them below:
George Horner, Future Proofing Our Climate and Weather
George is a cloud scientist fresh from his PhD at Imperial College London, where he explored how atmospheric aerosols impact cloud properties and climate change predictions.
Fabrizio Ticchiarelli-Marjot, Programmable Plants
With a decade of experience dedicated to advancing plant biology and its practical applications, Fabrizio brings expertise from both academia (PhD, University of Cambridge) and startups (Synthace and Gardin).
Radhika Gudipati, Smarter Robot Bodies
With 15 years in robotics and a PhD in healthcare robotics from the University of Hertfordshire, Radhika bridges engineering and user perspectives, shaped by her roles at Ocado Technology and Shadow Robot Company.
Nora Ammann, Mathematics for Safe AI
An interdisciplinary scientist working across natural, social, and artificial systems, Nora brings philosophical and technical expertise to AI safety. As co-founder of PIBBSS, she's explored new interdisciplinary approaches to tackling questions in AI risk, governance, and safety.
Gillian Koehl, Scalable Neural Interfaces
Gillian has a background in biomaterials and deep expertise in neuromodulation product development from her time at Blackrock Neurotechnology and Imperial College London.
Dan Giles, Scoping Our Planet
A Senior Research Fellow from UCL with expertise in applied mathematics, statistics, and computer science, Dan specialises in enhancing ocean and atmospheric models through machine learning.
Paolo Toccaceli, Scaling Compute
Paolo is an electronic engineer by training, and spent the majority of his career in technical R&D roles for large high-tech companies before joining Graphcore, a startup that develops innovative AI hardware.
There's much more to come in the new year – from Creator announcements and project updates to our second cohort of Programme Directors exploring new scientific frontiers.
Sign up here for real-time updates on our programmes, partnerships, and the future of breakthrough science.