The public image of science and scientists, or their research and their virtues as researchers is part of the wider issue of public perception of science. Much of research on public perceptions and attitudes to science has focused in recent years on the question of trust in science and the trustworthiness of scientists. The pandemic has heightened this problem, as trust in science was immediately recognised as an intangible asset in risk communication during a public health emergency. In this symposium, we will bring together several strands of on-going research that arise from these concerns from different angles, each recognising that social representations of modern science include public imagination, images of the public, of institutions, their trustworthiness and trust in science as linked empirical variables.

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