--- title: "ARIA Opportunity Seeds: Programmable Plants" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04d556" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04d556" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04d556.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04d556.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "ADVANCED RESEARCH AND INVENTION AGENCY" published: "2025-01-22" --- # ARIA Opportunity Seeds: Programmable Plants Buyer: ADVANCED RESEARCH AND INVENTION AGENCY Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04d556 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04d556) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04d556.json) ## Summary The ADVANCED RESEARCH AND INVENTION AGENCY (ARIA), based in London, is soliciting proposals under the tender title "ARIA Opportunity Seeds: Programmable Plants." This procurement process falls within the research services category (CPV code: 73110000) and pertains to innovative scientific research aimed at achieving breakthroughs in programmable plants. Currently at the tender stage, the application period will close on 9 April 2025 at 13:00 GMT, with shortlisted applicants being notified on 28 April 2025. The final award decisions will be communicated to successful and unsuccessful applicants by 9 May 2025. Proposals are encouraged from diverse backgrounds, emphasizing idea merit and intrinsic motivation over traditional credentials. This tender presents a significant opportunity for businesses engaged in scientific research and innovative technological development. It aims to fund high-potential proposals with up to £500k each, promoting groundbreaking ideas in the programmable plants domain. The competitive procedure with negotiation method highlights the agency's intent to select the most promising concepts through a selective process. Businesses that are early-stage, curiosity-driven, or possess unique, high-impact ideas that align with the 'Programmable Plants' opportunity space stand to gain substantial support. The opportunity is particularly suitable for researchers and innovators seeking to push boundaries and explore new capabilities in plant programming and biotechnology. ## Notice Breakthroughs require finding people who think differently about what's possible - and empowering them to follow their vision. To support scientific and technological breakthroughs, outside of programmes, ARIA Programme Directors can award opportunity seeds to support ambitious research aligned to the opportunity spaces they've identified. To understand how opportunity seeds work within our model, see how we're working here (https://aria.org.uk/how-we-fund). ### Lot Information Lot 1 Programme Director Angie Burnett's opportunity space, 'Programmable Plants', (https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/programmable-plants) asks "how can we programme a plant to do anything we want it to do?". We're looking to fund high potential proposals with up to PS500k each. We're looking for bold ideas that could challenge assumptions, open up new research paths, or provide steps towards new capabilities. If you have an important idea you're obsessed with, but you don't currently have the resources or support to take it forward, we'd like to hear from you. Ideas could come from anywhere, so we welcome applications from individuals and teams who are early in their career or who have atypical backgrounds. We care more about your idea and your intrinsic motivation than we do about your CV. To help you decide if this is the right funding call for you, below is some guidance on the scope. In scope: Ideas that sit within the ''Programmable Plants' (https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/programmable-plants) opportunity space. By this, we mean your proposal should show how your idea either aligns with or challenges the assumptions of the Summary, Beliefs, or Observations in the opportunity space document (https://www.aria.org.uk/media/uqrjp3wp/aria-programmable-plants.pdf). Both land plants and aquatic plants (including green algae) are in scope. Microorganisms influencing plants are in scope, provided that they are being used to alter an aspect of a plant's form or function The opportunity space document outlines examples of ideas that we are interested in, but there are many more possibilities not mentioned in the document that we would be excited to fund. Ideas that could change the conversation about what is possible or valuable. Ideas that range from early stage curiosity-driven research through to pre-commercial science and technology. Out of scope: Ideas that target Angie Burnett's goal of Synthetic Plants (https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/programmable-plants/synthetic-plants/), as described in her programme thesis (https://www.aria.org.uk/media/teli101l/aria-synthetic-plants-for-a-sustainable-future.pdf) and programme funding call (https://www.aria.org.uk/media/fq1fybgx/aria-synthetic-plants-call-for-proposals.pdf) (applications for the programme funding call have now closed). Cyanobacteria. Ideas that are undifferentiated or that are likely to happen without ARIA support. Commercial or close-to-commercial stage products. Beyond this scope and our evaluation criteria outlined in the opportunity seed call for proposals document on ARIA's website here, we don't have preconceptions about what ideas you might send our way. You don't need to contort your project to fit our goals: we want to hear what you really want to do. Options: The estimated total funding value is the maximum budget available. We expect to fund multiple applicants. Funding is anticipated to be award via both contracts and grants. Additional funding, scope and duration could be added to any contracts awarded. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002159-2025 | | Notice type | Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Selective | | Procurement method details | Competitive procedure with negotiation | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 22 Jan 2025 | | Submission deadline | 9 Apr 2025 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Active | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | ADVANCED RESEARCH AND INVENTION AGENCY | | Locality | LONDON | | Post town | North West London | | Postcode | NW1 2DA | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLI London | | ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West | | ITL 3 | TLI36 Camden | | Local authority | Camden | | Electoral ward | Regent's Park | | Westminster constituency | Holborn and St Pancras | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services ### Codes - 73110000 - Research services ## Release History - 22 Jan 2025 at 12:07 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002159-2025 ## Notice URLs - https://aria.org.uk/how-we-fund - https://aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/programmable-plants/programmable-plants - https://www.aria.org.uk/ - https://www.aria.org.uk/media/fq1fybgx/aria-synthetic-plants-call-for-proposals.pdf - https://www.aria.org.uk/media/teli101l/aria-synthetic-plants-for-a-sustainable-future.pdf - https://www.aria.org.uk/media/uqrjp3wp/aria-programmable-plants.pdf - https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/programmable-plants - https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/programmable-plants/synthetic-plants/ ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04d556. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04d556.json.