Programmable Plants Grant
In context
This call is open to startups, small and medium-sized businesses and universities and 1 other. Funding is a grant. Coverage is read from the notice itself: United Kingdom. The funder accepts early-stage applicants.
ARIA's Programmable Plants programme funds research and innovation to engineer plants that address food insecurity, climate change, and environmental degradation. The grant targets researchers and innovators developing biological solutions to global sustainability challenges through plant science and synthetic biology.
About this grant
Programmable Plants is an opportunity space identified by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) that focuses on harnessing advances in gene editing technologies and synthetic biology to transform the ability to address food insecurity and environmental degradation. The programme is grounded in the belief that today's agricultural system is struggling to address unsustainable food supply and climate instability, requiring a paradigm shift to accelerate agricultural innovation. Plants represent 80% of Earth's biomass and are rapidly, cost-effectively, and widely distributed, making them an ideal technological platform to provide low-cost, sustainable resources at scale. Within this opportunity space, ARIA has launched the Synthetic Plants programme, backed by £62.4 million (approximately $78 million USD), which aims to unite expertise in synthetic biology and plant biology to catalyse a new generation of major crops that are more productive, resilient, and sustainable. The programme envisions engineering plants to remove more CO2, fight drought, deliver medicines, and provide food, fuel, shelter, and other resources. ARIA's Programme Directors define and lead opportunity spaces, directing the review, selection, and funding of a portfolio of projects. The Programmable Plants space reflects ARIA's core belief that predictable and efficient development of new plants can provide all of society with abundant and sustainable resources for future generations.
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Eligibility
Specific eligibility criteria are not detailed on this page. The programme is managed by ARIA Programme Directors who direct the review, selection, and funding of projects. Applicants interested in the Synthetic Plants programme, which sits within this opportunity space, would likely need to have expertise in synthetic biology and/or plant biology. As ARIA is a UK public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, funding is likely primarily directed toward UK-based researchers and organisations, though no explicit geographic restriction is stated on this page.
How it's scored
Specific evaluation criteria are not disclosed on this page. Projects are reviewed, selected, and funded under the direction of ARIA Programme Directors, who assess proposals within the context of the Programmable Plants opportunity space and the Synthetic Plants programme. No further detail on scoring, weighting, or panel composition is provided.
Key requirements
- ✓Focus on programmable/engineered plants as solutions to food security, climate change, or environmental degradation
- ✓Research or innovation in plant biology, synthetic biology, or agricultural biotechnology
- ✓Alignment with ARIA's mission to fund high-risk, high-reward research
Frequently asked questions
- How much funding does Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) offer?
- Programmable Plants offers See ARIA programme page.
- Who can apply for Programmable Plants?
- Eligibility covers organisations in GB, UK; startup, sme, university, research-institution. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.
Relevant sectors
How this compares
- Compared with 47 similar grants (adaptation in United Kingdom) listed in the last 12 months.
- Its value of $78m is above 100% of the 11 similar grants that state a value; their median is $1.3m.
- The same organisation listed 7 other similar grants here in the last 12 months.
Closest open grants
Figures are computed from notices listed on Raise Lens in the same sector and country over the last 12 months.
About this sector
Climate adaptation funding helps communities, infrastructure and businesses prepare for heat, flooding, drought and sea level rise. Most of it is public and multilateral money, often targeted at vulnerable regions and delivered with local government. Calls usually ask for a climate risk assessment and evidence that local people shaped the plan.
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