University News Last updated 15 February 2022
Birmingham City University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Julian Beer has joined business and political leaders in a bid to bring the Government's new Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to Birmingham.
ARIA was announced by the Government last year as an independent agency to fund high-risk, high-reward scientific research. It will be led by prominent, world-leading scientists who will be given the freedom to identify and fund transformational science and technology at speed. The new agency will help to cement the UK's position as a global scientific superpower while shaping the country's efforts to build back better through innovation.
Now regional leaders, including Professor Beer, the Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, and Dr Clive Hickman, chief executive of the Manufacturing Technology Centre are calling for the agency to be headquartered in Birmingham. The bid coalition has identified Old Curzon Street Station as an ideal location. It has a longstanding history of innovation and engineering excellence.
Old Curzon Street Station, now the hub of HS2 in the city, was once home to the historic Lunar Society of Birmingham, which helped shape Britain's scientific, political and social agenda throughout the 18th century.
Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, said, "The West Midlands offers an ideal base for ARIA, with our central UK location, our world-leading knowledge, and our talent base of academics and industry expertise. With a fast-growing and diverse young community, our region has the next generation of innovators and inventors who can help meet the Government's ambition to be a scientific superpower. In post-pandemic Britain, basing ARIA in the West Midlands will help deliver levelling up by creating high-quality jobs and new skills for residents as well as addressing the regional imbalance of public and private investment."