The Trust Collaboratory - Incite at Columbia University
The Trust Collaboratory
A center exploring the social dynamics of trust through interdisciplinary, collaborative, and publicly-engaged formats.
- Personnel
- Learn More trustcollaboratory.org
The Trust Collaboratory is one of the United States' first research centers exploring the social dynamics of trust.
With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Trust Collaboratory began operations in 2020 as the Mellon Sawyer Seminar on Trust and Mistrust of Science and Experts. In its next iteration, the seminar transformed into The Trust Project with an expanded focus on public engagement with community partners in New York City. In late 2022, the Trust Collaboratory launched as a center at Incite Institue.
As one of the first institutions in the nation dedicated to the social dynamics of trust, the Trust Collaboratory draws on the expertise of scholars at Columbia University as well as external stakeholders, including journalists, community advocates, non-profit professionals, policy experts, and policymakers in NYC and beyond.
The Trust Collaboratory advances pioneering knowledge on what is needed to maintain and foster trust in a democratic society through education, public engagement, and collaborative partnerships in a number of areas:
- Medicine and science
- Media and journalism
- Information technology, artificial intelligence, and algorithms
Projects led by this unit
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go to the Closing the Gap Between Trustworthy and Trusted AI project
Closing the Gap Between Trustworthy and Trusted AIJumpstarting conversations about trust in AI and its impact on trust in institutions.
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go to the Covid-19 and Trust in Science project
Covid-19 and Trust in Science
Documenting the experiences of Post-Covid Syndrome patients in the United States, Brazil, and China.
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go to the Criminal Legal Algorithms, Technology, and Expertise project
Criminal Legal Algorithms, Technology, and Expertise
Investigating how carceral algorithms destabilize work practices, legal frameworks, and the legitimacy of expert authority.
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go to the Listening Tables project
Listening Tables
Creating spaces on Columbia University's campus to navigate conflicts with mutual respect, empathy, and a commitment to rebuilding trust.
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go to the Trust in Autonomous Labs project
Trust in Autonomous Labs
Exploring the implications of autonomous labs in knowledge and society.
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go to the Introducing the 2026 Inaugural Incite Institute Doctoral Dissertation Fellows news
Introducing the 2026 Inaugural Incite Institute Doctoral Dissertation FellowsWe're excited to announce this year's cohort of Incite Dissertation Fellows. In keeping with Incite Institute's commitment to bringing disciplines together across the university, the Fellows Program brings together PhD candidates at the dissertation writing stage for a year of close, sustained engagement with the thinking of colleagues from disciplines other than their own. -
go to the Incite's Investigative Journalism Oral History Lands in Mother Jones 50th Anniversary Retrospective news
Incite's Investigative Journalism Oral History Lands in Mother Jones 50th Anniversary RetrospectiveFor its 50th anniversary issue, Mother Jones turned to Incite's developing oral history archive of investigative journalism, using interviews conducted by project lead Adiel Kaplan as primary sources for its founding history. -
go to the Incite’s Trust Collaboratory Hosts The First Community Conversation for AI Research Project news
Incite’s Trust Collaboratory Hosts The First Community Conversation for AI Research ProjectOn June 29, the Trust Collaboratory's TeLLLMe project gathered researchers, skeptics, and community members in Harlem for the first in a series of conversations aimed at building a more democratic, publicly accountable AI platform. -
go to the First Person news
First PersonColumbia College Today's Alex Boncy highlights five alumni that were interviewed in the Obama Presidency Oral History.