Proof, pulse and possibility
What’s new at ARIA
News
We’ve launched a £60m Robot Locomotion programme, seeking radically new robot bodies that can reach and work where today’s machines cannot. Submit a concept paper by 4 December.
Our Robot Dexterity programme is seeking a partner to develop benchmarks, standards and shared infrastructure that can help move dexterous robotics from components to field-ready systems. Apply by 1 December.
We’re looking for a Standardisation, Translation + Replication partner for our Precision Mitochondria programme, helping teams turn individual advances into dependable capabilities. Apply by 9 November.
Full proposals are now open for Phase 2 of Forecasting Tipping Points. We’re looking for ambitious, interdisciplinary teams to help build an early warning system for changes in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre. Apply by 2 December.
Meet the 11 R&D Creator teams funded through Universal Fabricators, developing scalable protein-based routes to advanced materials that cannot be mass-manufactured today.
The World Conference of Science Journalists returns to London in September 2027. ARIA CEO Kathleen Fisher is part of its Programme Committee, and organisers are inviting ideas for workshops, panels, fireside chats and more. Submit a proposal by 30 November.
We’ve appointed Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Snowdonia Aerospace Test Centre as the first Programme Partners for Enduring Atmospheric Platforms, providing specialist support, regulatory guidance and flight-test facilities for the 18 R&D Creator teams working to demonstrate new high-altitude platforms.
Opportunities
Join EcoHack, a Nucleate UK hackathon bringing together scientists, engineers, designers and founders to explore biodiversity, conservation genomics and ecosystem resilience. Apply by 6 November.
Could AI transform your research? Share a major science challenge, dataset or high-impact idea with Pillar VC + ARIA’s Encode: AI for Science Fellowship. This is a rolling invitation.
Events
Connect with founders, researchers and innovators at these upcoming events:
Conception X, Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester + ARIA: AI for Science Summit (26 November).
Join Pillar VC, i.AI and Fractile in Bristol for a morning with women working across applied AI and deep tech (3 November).
Venture Café London: The Sky’s the Limit (5 November), Rewiring Healthcare (12 November), and London Life Sciences Week: Wrap Up Reception (19 November).
Venture Café Manchester: Ambitious Science, New Models (5 November), Osaka Calling (12 November), and The Future of Scientific Discovery (26 November).
Venture Café Edinburgh: Ambition, Inside and Out (5 November), The Global Approach (12 November), and Powering Tomorrow (26 November).
Cambridge NeuroWorks: Pitch. Protect. Grow. (3 December).
Can AI help us prove software is secure?
Most software is tested by looking for errors. Formal methods take a different approach: using mathematics to show that software or hardware will behave as intended in every situation it is designed to handle.
Recent cyber incidents show why that matters. Earlier this month, ASOS said it was investigating unauthorised activity after attackers used its app to send customers a threatening push notification. Two critical PHP flaws also prompted governments and companies around the world to take websites offline while installing emergency patches.
As part of our Safeguarded AI programme, we’re backing eight research teams to test whether AI-enabled formal methods can make this level of assurance practical at scale — strengthening everything from Android phones and AI infrastructure to critical national infrastructure. Meet the Creators working to test their claims in the messier conditions of real systems.
Precision and permanence: engineering living neural interfaces
Breakthroughs rarely come from a single insight or lab. In Professor Kacy Cullen’s project, building a living neural interface involves tissue engineering, biomaterials, optoelectronics, animal research, neurosurgery and clinical practice — each tackling a different part of the same problem. Together, the team is asking whether they can create a controllable, long-lasting connection to the brain that could one day offer a different approach to treating Parkinson’s disease. Read the full piece.
The work before a company has a name
Our Activation Partner Fifty Years’ 5050 UK programme helps scientists and engineers do some of the most consequential — and least visible — work in the journey from research to real-world use: working out whether and how to build a company around an idea.
Across its first three UK cohorts, 5050 has helped start 28 companies, which have raised more than £30 million since the first cohort ended in July 2025. They join more than 80 companies started through 5050 in the US. Read our interview with Vaitea Cowan, the UK Lead of 5050.
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