The VERITY project aims to enhance societal trust in science by ensuring transparency, responsibility, and accountability in scientific research. Recognizing that trust can be undermined by factors such as fraudulent research and the spread of misinformation through social media, VERITY seeks to address these challenges by identifying the various actors responsible for upholding trust and developing tools and methods to improve it.
Central to VERITY’s approach is the concept of “stewards of trust,” encompassing both formally responsible organizations like research funding bodies and higher education institutions, as well as de facto influencers such as social media companies and video streaming platforms that shape public perceptions of science and innovation. The project combines multidisciplinary expertise from social sciences and engineering to synthesize existing knowledge, evaluate tools and methods for enhancing trust, and produce the VERITY Protocol of Recommendations.
VERITY’s objectives include analyzing the sources and consequences of mistrust in science, building collaboration across a spectrum of “stewards of trust,” exploring and testing methods to guide trust in science, and developing a validated protocol of recommendations for policymakers, research organizations, and other stakeholders. Through these efforts, VERITY aims to foster societal trust in science and facilitate effective science-society co-creation.
Project Τitle: deVEloping scientific Research with ethIcs and inTegritY
Project Duration: 1/9/2022 – 31/8/2025
Project URL: https://verityproject.eu/
Project Framework & Funding: HORIZON.4.2 – Reforming and enhancing the European R&I System – € 1 847 563,75
Scientific coordinator (UNIWA): Prof. Ch. Patrikakis
Consortium – Partners:
Trilateral Research Limited (Ireland) – Coordinator
EUREC Office GUG (Germany)
Zentrum für Soziale Innovation GmbH (Austria)
UCLan Cyprus Limited (Cyprus)
Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Αττικής (University of West Attica) (Greece)
F6S Network Ireland Limited (Ireland)
Research Publications / Results / Patents
Varda, C., Iordanou, K., Antoniou, J. et al. The Role of Stewards of Trust in Facilitating Trust in Science: A Multistakeholder View. J Acad Ethics (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-024-09583-y
