Ilan Gur has been named CEO of the UK’s new Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
He will set the agency’s agenda, oversee its initial funding of high-risk programmes, assemble an outstanding team of programme managers, and coordinate with both the domestic and international R&D sector.
In addition, talent investor and entrepreneur Matt Clifford has been named ARIA’s chairman today. As chairman, Clifford will support the CEO’s efforts beginning on August 15 and serve as a steward for the organization’s efficient governance.
In order to maintain the UK’s status as a global science superpower and to draw top talent to our shores in order to grow the economy, promote prosperity, and create the breakthroughs of the future, ARIA will make it possible for exceptional scientists and researchers to identify and fund transformational research that results in new technologies, discoveries, products, and services.
Dr. Gur developed his career overseeing cutting-edge research and innovation for the good of society, primarily in his capacity as the founder and CEO of Activate, a non-profit organisation with headquarters in the US that gives scientists and engineers the tools they need to commercialise ground-breaking research.
Under Mr. Gur’s competent direction, Activate has assisted 142 fellows and sparked the development of more than 100 science-based start-ups.
Dr. Gur has founded two science-based start-ups and was a member of the first group of Programme Directors at ARPA-E, the US Department of Energy’s organisation for sponsoring ground-breaking energy technology breakthroughs.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, said:
Ilan Gur’s selection as ARIA’s first CEO represents a significant win for the agency’s future and for the UK.
His leadership will secure the funding of high-risk programmes that will continue to push the boundaries of science and technology.
He has a renowned track record of converting extraordinary talent and ideas into commercial success.
ARIA will make sure that the advantages of research and development will be seen in our society and economy over the course of centuries under Dr. Gur’s direction and with the assistance of the bright Matt Clifford.
The agency has the freedom to advance tomorrow’s innovations by cutting out needless red tape and giving authority to our inventors.
The successful US-based Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), which played a key role in the development of revolutionary technologies like the internet and GPS, revolutionising how people live and work while boosting economic growth, served as an inspiration for ARIA.
More recently, the successor of ARPA, DARPA, played a crucial role in funding mRNA vaccines and antibody therapeutics prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ilan Gur, the new CEO of ARIA, said:
I think ARIA can fulfil the promise of a brighter future for everyone on the planet, not just UK citizens.
I will put out significant effort to fulfil the enormous responsibility and honour of serving as ARIA’s founding CEO.
To support high-risk, high-reward scientific research and uphold the UK’s status as a science superpower, the government announced intentions to establish ARIA in February 2021.
The ARIA Act will be signed into law in February 2022. Later this year, the Agency is anticipated to be founded.
Recruitment drives have also been started today to locate ARIA’s Non-Executive Directors and the organization’s first Chief Financial Officer in order to support the new CEO and Chairman.
Matt Clifford MBE, the incoming chairman of ARIA, said:
ARIA has the potential to develop a fresh framework for speeding the crucial advances in science and technology.
Ilan Gur and I have the privilege of working together to steer ARIA through its formative years and secure its future.
ARIA will be a crucial and priceless addition to the UK’s thriving R&D ecosystem.
The government has promised to expand public expenditure in R&D to £20 billion in 2024–2025, with overall R&D spending reaching 2.4 percent of GDP by 2027.
With the speed, freedom, and flexibility of a tech start-up and the resources of the established UK science infrastructure, it will operate with the flexibility to support transformational science while avoiding needless red tape and experimenting with various funding approaches.
Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) chief executive, said:
The introduction of ARIA will make the UK research and innovation system even stronger.
The choice of Ilan Gur and Matt Clifford as the organization’s first CEO and Chair excites me.
I am eager to collaborate with them and know that they will contribute the knowledge and drive necessary to make it successful.
ARIA will play a significant part in expanding the ways in which we support exceptional individuals and teams engaged in really revolutionary projects, wherever and whoever they may be.
Together, we can create the vibrant, innovative system of research and innovation that the UK needs to succeed.