The UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) is looking for a new leader after current chief executive, Ilan Gur, announced his intention to step down. Gur has led the agency since it was launched three years ago.
Aria is modelled on the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and has a remit to support ‘high-risk, high reward’ science with ‘minimal bureaucracy’. The agency faced criticism earlier this year when it announced that it would spend £57 million on projects exploring controversial climate cooling research.
Gur, who had previous experience launching tech startups, was appointed to lead Aria by then business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng in 2022. Since then, he has overseen the appointment of the agency’s 16 programme directors and its initial funding rounds.
‘The world is now beginning to see Aria as a model that can usher in some of the most important technological transformations of our time,’ said Gur in a LinkedIn post describing his decision to step away from the agency. ‘And just this month, the government recognised Aria’s potential to catalyse a step change in economic and social prosperity for the UK by committing over £1 billion in new funding through 2030.’
Gur explained that the Aria chief executive role was always intended to be time limited, to continue to bring fresh ideas into the agency. ‘As we approach a natural end to the first chapter, this is the moment to recruit the next CEO from a position of strength and provide them with the team, momentum and financial backing needed to lead the agency through its next phase.’
Candidates for the chief executive role have until midnight on 3 August to submit their applications, with the position described as a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the future of science and technology in the UK and beyond’. The job is advertised as a five-year term.
In a statement online, UK science secretary Peter Kyle praised Gur for taking Aria from a bold idea into a thriving agency. ‘The mission for the next CEO remains pursuing frontier science, and turning it into the new industries, jobs and technologies that will drive the growth at the heart of our Plan for Change,’ he added.
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