Solloway: Aria will not be tied to specific remit or purpose

Advanced Research and Invention Agency will meet UK’s ‘obligation’ to try different things, minister says

Science minister Amanda Solloway has said that the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, the UK’s planned ‘high-risk, high-reward’ R&D funder, will not be bound by a specific remit or purpose but will be given free rein to choose its focus.

“I have decided that government will not tie down Aria with a limited remit or purpose,” Solloway said in a speech at the British Science Association on 17 March. “I believe that would be counterproductive—it would inhibit Aria; it would tip the balance away from expert judgement and long-range ambition, towards short-term political priorities.”