Launched in January 2023, the Trust in Research Undertaken in Science and Technology (TRuST) network is a project exploring the concept of public trust in medical, technological and other scientific research that affects and benefits our everyday lives.
Studying trust is vital as it is so foundational to how we live and work together, and it is critical to the spirit of collaboration, innovation, and community that drives the research undertaken at the University of Waterloo. Recent events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting sociopolitical fallout, have thrown the issue of public trust in science sharply into focus.
This is why it is also crucial for us to engage broader communities for understanding, insight, and experience, as the very idea of trust cuts across fields of study, sectors, and societies. Trust is a relational idea that allows us to work together to address the challenges we face today and in the future.
Building on the vision of Waterloo at 100 some 34 years in the future, we take the opportunity to examine the concept of trust relating to the thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the Waterloo Region community and beyond who will be impacted by what is accomplished here at the University.
President Vivek Goel’s Waterloo at 100 vision demands the evaluation of foundational concepts in an ever-changing world that constantly generates new ideas, understandings, technologies, challenges, and responsibilities. Forging new collaborations at this time of flux is vital and TRuST will be a key tool in helping us do this at the University and beyond. The first step to earning public trust in science is reflecting on the practices of research and scholarship itself in a critical way, to see how we might improve and move forward more inclusively, more thoughtfully, and more collaboratively.
As we begin this research and grow our network, we are excited for the new collaborations, research, and opportunities to listen and talk about trust.
Professor Donna Strickland and Professor Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher,
Inaugural Co-Directors for TRuST,
September, 2023
Dr. Donna Strickland
Dr. Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher
Our Goal
To further understand trust and lack of trust in science and technology and to support ethically earning and sustaining trust in these domains.
Our Mission Statement
We're a network of people dedicated to better understanding why people do or don't trust scientific and technical information. It's a big issue, we know, and so we believe it is important to study the topic in all its complexity and richness. We approach this problem through a transdisciplinary approach, through practitioner experience, and a lot of asking questions and even more listening to a wide range of perspectives.
TRuST Scholarly Network
News
Dean Wells calls out the GenAI risks to women
This opinion piece by the University of Waterloo’s Dr. Mary Wells, dean of Engineering; Dr. Lai-Tze Fan, Canada Research Chair in Technology and Social Change; and Dr. Ashley Mehlenbacher, Canada Research Chair in Science, Health, and Technology Communication, appeared in the Toronto Star.
Navigating Misinformation: Trust in Information in the Digital Age
Misinformation. Disinformation. Malinformation. Navigating the vast amounts of information we encounter daily has never been more challenging. A panel discussion hosted by the University Librarian Beth Sandore Namachchivaya, featuring librarians Brie McConnell and Kate Mercer, and Associate Professor and Director of Waterloo's U&AI Lab, Lai-Tze Fan.
The Groarke Debate: Artificial Intelligence: Friend or Foe?
TRuST's Dr. Lai-Tze Fan and Dr. Makhan Virdi: The Groarke Debate. This biannual event brings two high-profile intellectuals to Trent to debate an urgent interdisciplinary topic of wide interest to the Trent and Peterborough communities.
Events
Save the date
The TRuST network invites you to attend our next speaker series event on January 28, 2025 at the University of Waterloo. Further details to come.