Chief Executive of ARIA appointed

Dr Peter Highnam from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been appointed as the first CEO of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to lead the formation of the agency and direct its initial funding of high-risk programmes.

ARIA forms a critical part of the UK government’s science and research agenda. Backed by £800 million, it will empower scientists to focus on high-risk projects at the frontier of discovery and innovation.

Born in the UK, Dr Peter Highnam joins ARIA from the USA’s research agency DARPA where he has served as Deputy Director since February 2018. He will take up his post as ARIA’s first CEO on 3 May 2022, for a fixed term of 5 years.

ARIA is based on models that have proved successful in other countries, in particular the influential US Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) model. This was instrumental in creating technologies such as the internet and GPS, changing the way people live and work, while increasing productivity and economic growth.

More recently, ARPA’s successor, DARPA, was a vital pre-pandemic funder of mRNA vaccines and antibody therapies, leading to critical COVID-19 therapies.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng who appointed Highnam, comments, ‘Under Highnam’s leadership, ARIA will ensure the benefits of research and development will be felt in our society and economy over the course of generations, and that the technologies, discoveries, products, and ideas the agency invests in are supported to create the industries of tomorrow.

‘The government has committed to increase public investment in R&D to £20 billion in 2024-2025, and ARIA will be an integral and invaluable addition to the UK’s flourishing R&D ecosystem.

‘Operating with flexibility and speed, avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy, and experimenting with different funding models, ARIA will ensure the UK remains on the front line of experimental research.’

UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser also says, ‘ARIA has a unique role to play in the ecosystem, enhancing the UK’s ability to experiment with novel approaches to finding and supporting people and ideas at the frontiers of discovery and innovation.

‘On behalf of UKRI I’d like to welcome Dr Highnam to his new role. I am looking forward to working alongside him to unleash the full potential of researchers and innovators across the UK to change people’s lives for the better.’