Votre plateforme d'autoédition

The 2025 Glion Colloquium examined how universities can protect trust and truth in an ever-changing world. The theme, Trust and Truth – How They Impact the Complex Relationship between Science and Society, highlighted their interdependence: truth needs trust to remain socially legitimate, and trust needs truth to be grounded. The credibility and impact of science depend on this balance.

In the age of AI, universities were urged to serve as moral compasses, ensuring that truth is guided by human judgment rather than algorithms. Although AI can enhance analysis, it lacks the ability to reason ethically; only humans can define meaning, values, and responsibility. Building trust begins with inclusion, transparency, and spaces for open dialogue. Universities must engage communities externally through citizen science and shared knowledge creation. Trust grows through lived experience, ethical leadership, and genuine collaboration.

The Colloquium emphasized the need for stronger dialogue among scientists, policy-makers, and the public. Universities must promote inclusive, ethical, and transparent research and train scientists to communicate effectively. A renewed mission centered on students as citizens links education to democratic participation. To model a pluralistic and open society, universities must embody the values they teach.

In a fragmented world, universities must lead with courage, clarity, and integrity. They must combat misinformation, guide society through today’s challenges, and earn trust daily through honest, inclusive, and purposeful actions. Trust and truth are not inherited – they must be lived.

Nana Aba APPIAH AMFO Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana; Toomas ASSER Rector, University of Tartu; Ángel CABRERA President, Georgia Institute of Technology; Ana Mari CAUCE President, University of Washington, Seattle; Alessandro CURIONI, Vice President, IBM Research Europe and Africa; Director, IBM Research Lab, Zurich; Linda DOYLE Provost and President, Trinity College Dublin; Yves FLÜCKIGER President, Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences; Rector Emeritus, University of Geneva (UNIGE); Anna FONTCUBERTA I MORRAL President, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL); Édouard KAMINSKI President, Université Paris Cité; Audrey LEUBA Rector, University of Geneva (UNIGE); Sari LINDBLOM Rector, University of Helsinki; Joël MESOT President, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich); Nagahiro MINATO President, Kyoto University; Michael SCHAEPMAN President, University of Zurich; Michael SPENCE President and Provost, University College London; Deborah TERRY Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Queensland; Luc WEBER Founding President, Glion Colloquium; Rector Emeritus University of Geneva; Henrik WEGENER Rector Emeritus, University of Copenhagen.

With the participation of the following guests: Farida SHAHEED United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Angela BEDNAREK Director, Scientific Advancement, PEW Charitable Trusts; Roland BOUFFANAIS Associate Professor, Global Studies Institute;  Director, Department of Computer Science, University of Geneva; Livia SCHUBIGER Professor of International Relations and Data Science, ETH Zurich.                                            

Ana Mari CAUCE is President of the University of Washington, Seattle, USA

Yves FLÜCKIGER is President of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, President of the Glion Colloquium, and Rector Emeritus of the University of Geneva.