Trust in academiaWe often study trust and accountability as if it were an external phenomenon, yet collaborative international research projects only work because researchers themselves foster trust and practice accountability. The international research project on “Balancing Trust and Accountability: Charities, Government, and Society” offers one example of how trust can be intentionally cultivated in collaborative research. One of the most important lessons learned was how important it is to earn the trust of funding institutions. The research project also showed the value of trusting colleagues’ methodological judgement when adapting research across different national contexts. The research project highlighted that trust and accountability are not only potential research topics, but must also be practiced in order to succeed.