Scientists are perceived less positively in the UK since the pandemic amid greater uncertainty over researchers’ integrity and intentions, according to the latest results of a long-running poll.

The Public Attitudes to Science Survey (PAS), which has been collecting data on what people think about science, scientists and science policy for the past 25 years, found that scientists are mostly viewed in a favourable light, with 82 per cent of respondents agreeing that scientists make a valuable contribution to society.

However, this is 7 percentage points lower than the 89 per cent who agreed with this statement when the previous survey was conducted in 2019.

Asked if scientists want to make life better for the average person, 70 per cent agree this is true, but this is down from 82 per cent six years ago and at the lowest level since 2005, finds the survey which polled 5,281 UK adults between February and July 2025.

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Similarly, the UK public was far less likely to believe that science made a direct contribution to economic growth than in 2019, with 64 per cent agreeing that this was the case, down from 75 per cent.

Those trends represent “a new backdrop of uncertainty, ambivalence and loss of trust” faced by scientists since the Covid pandemic, with fewer people also feeling informed about science (down from 51 per cent in 2019 to 43 per cent in 2025), states the report carried out by Ipsos on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in partnership with the British Science Association (BSA).

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That erosion of trust did not affect academic researchers as much as scientists in other sectors. Some 87 per cent of respondents felt scientists, researchers and engineers working in universities could be trusted to follow rules and regulations but this fell to 69 per cent of those working for the government (down from 78 per cent in 2019) and 60 per cent for those working in pharmaceuticals.

Less than half (48 per cent) believed that scientists in private companies could be trusted to follow the rules, down from 57 per cent six years ago.

That suggests “pandemic-era gains in trust in scientists were short-lived rather than deep-rooted”, says the PAS report, which also noted the public’s “high level of uncertainty as to whether scientists were ethical”.

Although 43 per cent of respondents agreed that scientists are ethical and only 6 per cent thought they are unethical, 44 per cent said they were likely to be neither ethical nor unethical.

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BSA chief executive Hannah Russell said the results of the first PAS since the pandemic showed that “the public continues to value science, research and innovation and that more people are discussing science and technology-related issues”.

“But it’s clear that this isn’t always translating into deeper engagement, with concerning trends emerging around ambivalence, uncertainty and loss of trust, particularly for women and young people,” she said.

The survey is also the first edition to take place since the widespread integration of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in public life. According to the survey, AI and other technologies polarised public opinion.

Although a third (33 per cent) of respondents thought that the benefits of AI outweighed the risks, as many people were of the opinion that the risks outweighed the benefits (36 per cent).

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Tom Saunders, head of public engagement at UKRI, said some of the findings contained “worrying signals” for trust in UK science.

“Certain aspects of trust in science have fallen since the pandemic, and fewer people feel informed about science than before. Young people, in particular, often report negative experiences of science at school and less than half of the people we surveyed think that science benefits their personal prosperity,” he said.

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“The survey also points to ways to address these issues: a large majority want government to communicate more about science, and there is widespread desire for public involvement in shaping science policy," he continued, adding that the PAS would next be held in 2028 and 2030.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com