Committee to quiz ARIA outgoing CEO and Chair on early years in operation
The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee will examine the work of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) in a one-off evidence session.
ARIA is a research and development funding agency established in 2023 to drive high-risk, high-reward science and technological innovation by providing researchers with investment and support outside conventional funding mechanisms.
The cross-party committee will question the chair and outgoing CEO of ARIA on its strategic direction during its first years of operation, how it measures success in high-risk, long-term innovation, and its approach to risk and failure.
Meeting details
Questions could also explore ARIA’s recruitment of Programme Directors, who design and run its R&D programmes with a high degree of autonomy, its approach to potentially controversial research and to public communication about science.
MPs may ask about ARIA’s transparency and accountability mechanisms, given its exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, and how it manages public funds.
The future of AI in the UK, including the debate on AI and copyright, and the governance of the Alan Turing Institute, may also be discussed.