ARIA: Programmable Plants - opportunity seeds

ARIA (the UK’s Advanced Research and Innovation Agency) asks: Can we programme plants to remove more CO2, improve food security, and deliver medicines to those in need?

Plants have paved the way for human existence and hold the key to solving some of our most pressing challenges, from food insecurity to environmental degradation. Programmable plants could secure our future on Earth, providing not just food, but a sustainable and thriving biosphere for future generations.

The core beliefs that underpin this ARIA opportunity space are:

1. Today’s agricultural system is struggling to address the twin challenges of an unsustainable food supply and an unstable climate: we need a paradigm shift to accelerate agricultural innovation.
2. Plants represent 80% of Earth’s biomass and are rapidly, cost-effectively and widely distributed across our planet: plants represent an ideal technological platform to provide low-cost, sustainable resources at scale.
3. Advances in gene editing and genetic modification are revolutionising our ability to tailor the traits of organisms: we can predictably and efficiently develop new plants to provide all of society with abundant and sustainable resources: food, fuel, medicine, shelter, and beyond.

Who can apply?

ARIA welcome applications from the entire R&D ecosystem. We’re keen to hear from early career entrepreneurs and researchers, and those from a broad range of sectors and backgrounds, including public sector research organisations and charities. We care more about your idea and intrinsic motivations than we do about your CV.

Project duration and budget

ARIA provide funding from £10k up to £500k per project, inclusive of VAT (where applicable) and all associated costs (both direct and indirect).

There is no minimum length for a proposed project but the maximum length is three years.

Scope

ARIA are looking for:

• ideas that sit within the Programmable Plants opportunity space. By this, we mean your proposal should show how your idea either aligns with or challenges the assumptions of the Summary, Beliefs, or Observations in the opportunity space.
• Both land plants and aquatic plants (incl. green algae);
• Microorganisms influencing plants, provided that they’re being used to alter an aspect of a plant’s form or function;
• Ideas that could change the conversation about what’s possible or valuable;
• Ideas that range from early-stage, curiosity-driven research through to pre-commercial science and technology.

Out of scope

• Ideas that are within scope of the Synthetic Plants programme (applications for this have now closed)
• Cyanobacteria
• Ideas that are undifferentiated or are likely to happen without ARIA’s support
• Commercial or close-to-commercial stage products

Support

Please read the call for proposals before submitting an application.

If you have any further questions relating to the opportunity seed call, please email clarifications@aria.org.uk.

If you would like help to find a collaboration partner through Innovate UK Business Connect, contact Dana Heldt, KTM for Engineering Biology, or Christopher Till and Pedro Carvalho in our AgriFood team.