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The development of national capacity to undertake ageing‐related research is vital to ensuring that the challenges arising from an ageing society faced by government, society and individuals are adequately understood and quality of life enhanced. Yet, in the early 2000s there was a danger that previous initial investment in ageing research would be wasted. A campaign was mounted to support newcomers to ageing research, especially those in early career, eventually resulting in Strategic Promotion of Ageing Research Capacity (SPARC). This was a four‐year programme to pump‐prime newcomers to ageing research, to publicise the outcomes of ageing research to all stakeholders and to lobby policy‐makers about the value of ageing research. This end‐of‐programme review suggests that those supported with pump‐priming awards have been fast‐tracked into the highly competitive world of ageing research, that the findings have been very well received and that the advocacy activities have been influential. A new model for promoting ageing research has been established.

The ageing process is often discussed as though it is unique to humans. However, it can be observed throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. In every species in which it occurs, the ageing process has common traits. It is a progressive, intrinsic, cumulative and deleterious process that eventually gives rise to physiological frailty, morbidity and death. Historically, biogerontology had a slow start but the last 10 years have seen exceptional progress in understanding both why and how ageing changes occur. As a result of this new knowledge, interventions that could produce longer, healthier human lives are close to becoming clinical realities. Unfortunately, the speed and scale of these advances is not well understood outside the relatively small community of biological gerontologists. This article reviews some of these advances for a non‐specialist audience, speculates on their potential impact and identifies current barriers to future progress.