Launch of UK ‘moonshot’ ARIA research agency delayed until end of year

The UK government’s plans to launch an agency to fund high-risk, high-reward research have been thrown off course

By Adam Vaughan

The launch of the UK government’s “moonshot” research agency has been delayed until the end of the year because of its incoming chief executive’s decision not to take up the role.

The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), billed as a high-risk, high-reward agency independent of current research funding channels, was thrown off course in March after after forthcoming chief executive Peter Highnam made a surprise decision to withdraw from the role, citing …