Trust {In} Science Project HDSI AFFILIATE
Trust in Science Project is a flagship project of the Harvard Data Science Ini- tiative (HDSI), conducted in collabora - tion with the Harvard Kennedy School's Program on Science, Technology & Soci - ety (STS). At a time of seemingly wide - spread loss of confidence in science and expertise, the Project seeks to illu - minate the varied factors that currently impede trusting relations between the producers and consumers of scientific information. It leverages data science, science and technology studies, and re- lated disciplines to analyze the break- downs in public trust, and to ask what steps could be taken to promote better mutual understanding. The Project supports Harvard facul - ty-led research efforts, workshops, conferences, symposia, and external engagements to amplify the impact of funded work. It is run by Professor Shei - la Jasanoff and Dr. Sam Weiss Evans, and overseen by internal and external advisory boards. To date, the Project has disbursed over $600,000 to faculty across the University on a wide variety of projects. The first round of research focused on trust issues around the COVID-19 pandemic, which examined issues ranging from differential priva-
cy for contact tracing to data visual- ization of information flow to chat bots designed to counter COVID-19 misinfor- mation. Projects in the second round an - alyzed ways that trust in science might be affected by the role of the “last mile” between the generation and consump- tion of knowledge on COVID, as well as the ways scientific information is visu - alized. The Project is currently embark - ing on a third round of funding focusing on the topic of vaccine hesitancy. The Project has also hosted a series of events, from a workshop on whether the idea of a “right to truth” should be advanced internationally to a roundta- ble with four leading experts from aca- demia and public life on the many crises of trust in expertise that marked 2020, from pandemic response to the census to police reform. The Trust in Science Project is made possible by generous gifts from Bayer and Microsoft.
“Sheila Jasanoff, the Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Harvard Kennedy School, has been awarded the 2022 Holberg Prize, among the world’s most prestigious awards for academic work in the humanities and social sciences.” ”
Harvard Kennedy School Jasanoff (right)
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