ARIA Scaling Trust: Call for proposals

Funding for agentic tools and research

ARIA (the Advanced Research and Invention Agency) is offering funding for teams to develop open‑source tools and carry out foundational research in agentic coordination.

This funding is part of ARIA's Scaling Trust programme, which aims to create infrastructure so artificial intelligence (AI) agents can safely coordinate, negotiate and verify each other’s actions in both digital and physical environments. The programme forms part of ARIA's Trust Everything, Everywhere initiative, backed by nearly £50 million.

Programme tracks

The Scaling Trust programme is split into three mutually reinforcing tracks:

Track 1 – Arena

Arena is a platform for open competitions designed to test AI systems' capabilities in multi-agent coordination across digital and physical worlds, with a multi-million pound prize pool for the strongest teams. In advance of launching the Scaling Trust Arena, ARIA is looking to fund teams across the remaining two programme tracks.

Track 2 - Tooling

Funding is available for the development of open-source agents and reusable components that enable secure requirement capture, negotiation, protocol generation, and verification in multi-agent settings. Projects can range from £200,000 to £2 million, and last from three to 12 months. Projects should generate modular tools (agents or plug-ins) usable by all participants in the upcoming Scaling Trust Arena.

Track 3 – Fundamental research

Funding is available for teams carrying out foundational work that turns empirical security into provable guarantees and helps design new cyber-physical trust primitives that can aid agentic coordination. ARIA is searching for two types of teams for this track:

• research centres (£2 to £3 million each)
• exploratory projects (£100,000 to £300,000 each)

Full details of what is in and out of scope for each track can be found in the call for proposals.

Who can apply

Individuals, start-ups, established companies, universities and research institutes can all apply. Applicants can be based in the UK or abroad. ARIA welcomes interdisciplinary teams blending skills like cryptography, AI security, game theory, robotics and more. Collaborative teams are encouraged, but solo applicants are also eligible.

If you need team members to support your proposal, you can use ARIA's teaming request form to find experts who have registered interest. After registering, you will be able to access a list of individuals offering skills and join the dedicated Discord channel.

How to apply

Funding for projects within the Tooling and Fundamental research tracks is now open. Key resources and instructions on project submission are available in the applicant guidance.

The deadline for submissions is 2pm on Tuesday 24 March 2026.

ARENA will run multiple webinars which will provide an overview of the programme’s objectives, scope, and application process, and give potential applicants an opportunity to ask questions to the ARIA team.

Register your interest to secure your place now:

• Webinar 1: 17 February 2026 (3:30pm) - register here
• Webinar 2: 3 March 2026 (4pm) - register here

Track 1 (the Arena) will be funded via a separate call. If you're interested in delivering the Arena, you can submit an expression of interest to receive updates on this.

First published 16 February 2026