2025-2026 Pathways to Impact Series
Join the office of Societal Impact for our Pathways to Impact seminar series, where we’ll dive deeper into defining and refining how your research makes a difference beyond the lab or field. Whether you're just starting out or looking to sharpen your focus, these sessions will help you turn ideas into action and impact.
Virtual seminars are 12:00 - 1:00pm MST via Zoom. Optional extended Q&A until 1:30pm.
Register individually for each seminar by opening the accordion tab below.
Pathways to Impact: Research & Societal Impact in a Changing Landscape - September 16, 2025
Broader or societal impacts of research refer to the ways in which research projects can more intentionally and directly benefit society. Funders often ask proposers to describe the relevance of their research to society, and NSF has long required an explicit broader impacts plan. As the research landscape continues to change, it is increasingly important to demonstrate how the impact of your research meets the needs of society.
This session will introduce participants to broad range of research impact categories recognized by funders, including those specific to NSF’s review criteria, and strategies to create an impact plan that will benefit a targeted audience, particular communities, or society at large - even in the face of changing directives.
Speakers:
Jennifer Fields, Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact
Michelle Higgins, Associate Director, Office of Societal Impact
Alison Meadow, Associate Research Professor, Office of Societal Impact
October 22, 2025 – Pathways to Impact: Building Authentic Partnerships to Maximize Impact
Developing and implementing successful research impact activities is often dependent on identifying the right partner(s) and establishing a productive collaboration. But how do you find a "just right" research partner and what are the elements of a successful partnership?
In this webinar, we will present strategies for building lasting partnerships with industry, government, schools and community-based organizations.
Speakers:
Greg Hitt, Associate, Economic Development & Community Engaged Research, Research Development
Brian Adair, Executive Director, Industry Engagement, Research Development
Jennifer Fields, Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact
12:00 – 1:00 pm MST
Extended Q&A until 1:30pm
Zoom registration required
November 18, 2025 – Pathways to Impact: Innovation & Entrepreneurship as Impact
How do we define “impact” as investigators? We all strive to generate knowledge that contributes to the future of our academic fields. But what about the impact that can arise when what we discover or develop can be used to make someone’s life or work better? In this session, we’ll discuss the benefits of having a translational mindset that integrates innovation and entrepreneurship, and how such a mindset can increase our chances of creating work that is both academically meaningful to our fields and socially and economically impactful.
In this session, the Tech Launch Arizona team will also help attendees understand how and when to most effectively engage to make the most of your opportunities, from the first discussions about research to invention disclosure to the myriad commercialization pathways available. TLA Licensing Managers – technology and IP experts embedded in colleges across the university – understand your areas of research and are excellent first points of contact. Similarly, TLA has engaged eight of your peers as Faculty Innovation Ambassadors, who are excellent resources you can connect with for information and guidance. Ultimately, it’s all about maximizing the impact of your work.
Speakers:
Jennifer Fields, Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact
Rakhi Gibbons, Director of Licensing and IP
Bruce Burgess, Director of New Ventures
12:00 – 1:00 pm MST
Extended Q&A until 1:30pm
Zoom registration required
December 9, 2025 – Pathways to Impact: Developing Your Research Impact Identity
Most researchers are comfortable discussing their technical research identity — who they are as researchers and what contributions they hope to make to their discipline through their research over the course of their careers. It is far less common, however, for researchers to think about their impact identity — the lasting impacts they aspire to have within a specific community and on society through their broader impacts work. By developing an impact identity, you no longer need to view each new proposal’s broader impacts statement as a ‘one-off’ activity, starting from scratch each time, but instead as an ongoing, incremental approach that continues to build on previous work toward your overarching societal impact goals.
This interactive workshop will introduce the concept of a broader impacts identity and walk investigators through a research-informed process for starting to define their BI identity. While any researcher is likely to benefit from this workshop, it is particularly relevant to early-career researchers as well as to broader impacts professionals who work with researchers and can play a crucial role in helping them develop their BI identities.
Speakers:
Jennifer Fields, Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact
Cara Shopa, Program Manager, Office of Societal Impact
12:00 – 1:00 pm MST
Extended Q&A until 1:30pm
Zoom registration required
January 22, 2026 – Pathways to Impact: Communicating Your Research Impact to Multiple Audiences
As scientists and researchers, we are regularly called upon to communicate our research and disseminate results to our disciplinary colleagues. This often takes the form of peer reviewed papers, talks to scientific audiences, and conference presentations and posters. However, as trust in the scientific process and in public institutions is being eroded, it is critical that we have the skills to talk about our research and its impact on society in different ways, to a variety of non-technical audiences. These might include legislators, government officials and others in positions to influence policy decisions. It frequently includes the public of all ages and backgrounds through more informal community offerings, such as public science talks, science exhibits, or summer camps.
This webinar will provide tips to prepare you to communicate the impact of your research to lay audiences. We will discuss strategies to move the conversation from a scientific presentation to a relational conversation where you understand your audience and their needs, listen to find common ground and understand what will influence them, and focus on the impact of your work beyond your scientific discipline to communities who will benefit.
Speakers:
Jennifer Fields, Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact
Michelle Higgins, Associate Director, Office of Societal Impact
12:00 – 1:00 pm MST
Extended Q&A until 1:30pm
Zoom registration required
February 18, 2026 – Pathways to Impact: Community Engagement in Research & Innovation
Community engagement describes collaboration between universities and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources and with a focus on solving real-world problems. It is important that we involve community partners in research and innovation to ensure that their knowledge and expertise are included in the research and to ensure that the work addresses community needs and priorities as effectively as possible. Community engagement can take several forms, including outreach and communication that enhances public understanding of research and the work done at universities; community-engaged research, in which community members or representatives are directly involved in research in a range of ways; and community engagement in innovation and entrepreneurship. To advance the translation and commercialization of research toward real-world impact, TLA brings a network of entrepreneurs, investors and business and technology experts to the table, connecting them with researchers to share ideas, connections and strategies.
In this session, the Office of Societal Impact and Tech Launch Arizona, will explore the integral skills necessary for different types of community engagement and highlight examples of each type being undertaken by UA researchers, staff, and students.
Speakers:
Jennifer Fields, Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact
Doug Hockstad, TLA Associate Vice President
Alison Meadow, Associate Research Professor, Office of Societal Impact
12:00 – 1:00 pm MST
Extended Q&A until 1:30pm
Zoom registration required
March 17, 2026 – Pathways to Impact: Collaborative Project Management for Multi-Organizational Teams
Successful teams lead to successful projects. Learn about collaborative project management (CoPM) tools and practices that put the people of the project at the center. These practices enhance team cohesion, sharpen shared understandings of goals and deliverables, and incorporate organizational cultures in order to coordinate stakeholder timelines, talent, and preferences.
In this session we will explore how and when to use the CoPM tools so that you can create a customized plan to promote and support your synergistic, multi-disciplinary, multi-organizational team. This workshop is great for principal investigators, project coordinators and managers, team members from all partnering organizations, new faculty and postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students preparing for academia or industry careers.
Speakers:
Michelle Higgins, Associate Director, Office of Societal Impact
Cara Shopa, Program Manager, Office of Societal Impact
12:00 – 1:00 pm MST
Extended Q&A until 1:30pm
Zoom registration required
Researchers are familiar with describing and assessing their research outputs and results. But how do you know that you are making an impact in society? Whether your funder requires it, or you are personally driven to incorporate a broader impacts plan into your research project, this component should be accompanied by a well-articulated plan for evaluating the broader impacts activities that are being proposed. This can present a challenge for investigators who are not trained in program evaluation.
This workshop will provide a brief introduction to the role of project evaluation in research impact. We will define evaluation terms like outputs, outcomes, and impacts; discuss impact indicators and potential data sources and methods; introduce standard evaluation tools including logic models and evaluation matrices; and describe the critical components needed to develop impact evaluation plans tailored to the research goals.
Speakers:
Jennifer Fields, Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact
Michelle Higgins, Associate Director, Office of Societal Impact
12:00 – 1:00 pm MST
Extended Q&A until 1:30pm
Zoom registration required
As interest in and expectations around engaged research and societal benefit increase among funders, researchers, and Higher Education policy organizations researchers and academic leaders are looking for guidance, tools, and resources to strengthen the ways in which they collaborate with societal partners and the ways they can identify, demonstrate, and communicate about the impacts of their work.
In this session, we will explore several tools for assessing, documenting, and communicating an organization’s research impact – the ways in which the research organization is contributing to positive societal impacts locally, regionally, and on global-scale challenges. These assessment tools can be used to inform internal organizational planning and decision making, reports to funders and donors, shared with community partners, and shared with institutional leaders and peer institutions.
Speakers:
Jennifer Fields, Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact
Michelle Higgins, Associate Director, Office of Societal Impact
Alison Meadow, Associate Research Professor, Office of Societal Impact
12:00 – 1:00 pm MST
Extended Q&A until 1:30pm
Zoom registration required
2026 Transdisciplinary Research Academy Opportunity
Transdisciplinary Research Academy
Complex problems, like adapting to climate change, managing for biodiversity, and conserving water resources, require many voices and knowledges to find workable solutions. Transdisciplinary research - research that combines the knowledge and expertise of multiple academic disciplines with the knowledge and expertise of non-academic partners like community members, practitioners, and policy makers – is an effective way to generate the new knowledge and solutions we need.
The Transdisciplinary Research Academy is a professional learning program that introduces key skills for successful transdisciplinary research. The Academy is grounded in the use of transdisciplinary practices for climate, environmental, and health research - but the tools and skills we focus on are applicable across disciplines and research topics.
Applications for the 2026 cohort are now open! For more information and to complete the application for the 2026 cohort, please visit: https://impact.arizona.edu/transdisciplinary-research-academy
For questions or to learn more about the Academy, please contact Alison M. Meadow, Office of Societal Impact, meadow@arizona.edu
Join or Request a Workshop
The following workshops, trainings, and presentations may be scheduled upon request for groups, departments or colleges.
Please complete this request form to schedule. (link to request form)
Building The Research Workforce: One way to address the NSF’s Broader Impacts requirement is through activities that focus on expanding participation in STEM. This workshop will explore why this is a priority for NSF and nationally. We will discuss how to incorporate evidence-based strategies and activities designed to expand participation in STEM and research.
Building Broader Impacts Partnerships: Developing and implementing successful Broader Impacts (BI) activities is often dependent on identifying the right partner(s) and establishing a productive collaborative. But how do you find a "just right" BI partner? What are the elements of a successful partnership? How can you ensure that the relationship is mutually beneficial for both members of the partnership? These and other questions will be answered in this interactive workshop.
Collaborative Project Management: We offer Collaborative Project Management workshops for multi-disciplinary or multi-institutional teams. Facilitated discussions work to 1) align personal, departmental or institutional, and project goals, and 2) coordinate diverse professional cultures through collaborative timelines and team protocols. Discussions also aim to clarify project scope and responsibilities, and identify potential risks to the project and risks to team cohesion. Join us for a scheduled workshop, or contact us if you would like to include this workshop in your project kick-off or team retreat.
Developing your Broader Impacts Identity: Most researchers are comfortable thinking about and discussing their research identity — who they are as researchers and what contributions they hope to make to their discipline through their research over the course of their careers. It is far less common, however, for researchers to think about their impact identity — the lasting impacts they aspire to have on their community and on society, as a whole, through their broader impacts work. By developing your impact identity, you no longer have to view each new proposal’s broader impacts statement as a ‘one-off’ activity, starting from scratch each time, but instead an ongoing, graduated approach that continues to build on previous work toward your overarching societal impact goals.
This interactive workshop will introduce the concept of a broader impacts identity and walk investigators through a process for starting to define BI identity. While any researcher is likely to benefit from this workshop, it is particularly relevant to early-career researchers (as well as to broader impacts professionals who work with researchers and can play a crucial role in helping them develop their BI identities).
Evaluating Broader Impacts Activities: All NSF proposals must not only have a broader impacts component, but a well-articulated plan for evaluating the broader impacts activities that are being proposed. This can present a challenge for investigators who are not trained in program evaluation. This workshop will provide a brief introduction to the basics of program evaluation and connect participants with some tools and resources to help them get started.
Past Societal Impact Workshops and Resources
Title: Pathways to Impact: Cultivating Collaboration Among Multi-Organizational Teams
Successful teams lead to successful projects. Learn about collaborative project management (CoPM) tools and practices that put the people of the project at the center. These practices enhance team cohesion, sharpen shared understanding of goals and deliverables, and incorporate organizational cultures in order to coordinate stakeholder timelines, talent, and preferences. Explore CoPM in this workshop to cultivate your team’s collective progress and project success.
Resources:
- Pathways to Impact PowerPoint Presentation
Title: Pathways to Impact: Institutionally Coordinated Resources to Support Faculty and Staff Engaged in Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate research (UR) experiences can be transformative for students and are a vital component of preparing students for graduate programs and careers. The University of Arizona has institutionally coordinated resources to support new and existing UR programs. Hear from faculty and staff who offer support and resources including CUREs, VIPs, culturally inclusive mentor training, UR Ambassadors, internships, proposal support and funding opportunities, and more. Learn about utilizing these resources to start and grow accessible and equitable UR programs.
Resources:
Pathways to Impact PowerPoint Presentation
Presentation Recording
Pathways to Impact Symposium Series
Transdisciplinary Research: Impact that Transcends Academia
The goal of transdisciplinary research is to incorporate different academic disciplines along with the knowledge and expertise of non-academic partners including community members, practitioners, or policy makers in the process of using research to find solutions to real-world problems. UA researchers from many departments and disciplines have been successful practicing transdisciplinary research for years (sometimes using terms like community-based participatory research, engaged research, or co-production of knowledge). In this seminar, we will explore the principles and practices of transdisciplinary research and hear from UA researchers about their experiences working with external partners to generate useful and usable research that helps make a positive difference for their partners.
Resources:
- Pathways to Impact Presentation
- Presentation Recording
Please join the STEM Learning Center for a mixer on Wednesday, Sept. 18, in the Campus Store. Learn about upcoming federal funding opportunities that support research and programs relevant to Hispanic Serving Institution initiatives and STEM education and connect with potential collaborators from across the university.
No resources available for this event
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a prestigious research grant to the University of Arizona, supporting an innovative Postdoctoral Fellowship program aimed at promoting best practices in STEM fields. The REEDS Postdoctoral Fellowship, will provide exceptional scholars with an opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research and foster supportive learning environments.
Learn more by listening to their episode of The Inquiry Oasis here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2217797/14174066-ep-13-shaping-stem-s-future-voices-from-the-reeds-fellowship
Resources:
Pathways to Impact PowerPoint
Presentation Recording
Please join us for an informative networking opportunity with community partners, Native and Indigenous organizations, civic organizations, and members of the UArizona community. Presenters will showcase productive institutional engagement and research collaborations while highlighting tools and preferred practices that support them. At the event, you will have the opportunity to connect with campus, local, and regional partners. UArizona values collaborations where the University and community engage as equal partners in all steps of the research, teaching, and engagement processes with the goals of educating, improving practice, and bringing about social change.
View the Community University Report that will be highlighted at this event here.
Resources:
Pathways to Impact Presentation
Presentation Recording
Event Description: The STEM Mixer, a pivotal event where we aim to identify key areas to drive support in STEM. UAZ has joined AAAS’s SEA Change program. We will share additional information about the process and intended outcomes of the SEA Change initiative, engage in dynamic discussions, and form collaborative working groups that will develop UA's strategic plan to effect sustainable change to our campus's STEMM culture.
No resources available for this event
Workshops:
ORIGINS: Fossils for Possible Futures
Monday, October 16, 2:00-4:00pm
In this workshop, participants will create fossils speculatively representing organisms from imagined worlds. Read more.
FUTURES: Sculpting the Unknown
Tuesday, October 17, 2:00-4:00pm - UA Students only
This workshop will explore a novel methodology for transdisciplinary exchange using sculpture as a common language for playful intellectual exploration. Read more.
HETEROGENEITY: The Values of Nature
Wednesday, October 18, 2:00-4:30pm
This workshop will explore lessons in righteousness to be learned from creatures of the Sonoran Desert, providing a space for creative expression of the more-than-humane. Read more.
Gallery Talks: Tuesday, October 24, 2:00-5:00pm
Schedule of presentation HERE
Schedule - Gallery Talks , October 24
2:00-2:30 “100-Year Photography: From Today to the Future” (Hai Ren)
How can art enact discussions of the future in rural China?
2:30-2:45 “Dear Body of Water: A Poetic Water-Harvesting Project” (Gretchen Henderson)
How might we cultivate care for overlooked ecologies including bodies of water, both far afield and right where we are?
2:45-3:00 “The Wonder Studio” (Nicole Antebi, Aaron Bugaj, Betsy Arnold)
Can moving images and imaging systems offer a platform for investigating the connections between artistic expression and scientific study?
3:00-3:30 “America's Health: Welcome to the Game” (Yuri Makino, Christine Ryan
Harland)
How do community-based healthcare models transform our sick care system into an affordable, accessible and high-quality model?
4:00-4:30 “Documenting Resilience in Tucson’s Southside” (Selina Barajas, Jacqueline Barrios,
Meg Jackson Fox, Kenny Wong)
How does Tucson’s Southside envision resilience?
3:30-4:00 “The Nature of Change: Experiments in Societal Transformation Through Environmental Art (Carissa DiCindio, Jonathon Keats, Jenna Green)
How can artistic practices engage communities with local ecology in Tucson?
4:30-5:00 “Southwest Field Studies in Writing” (Susan Briante, Francisco Cantú)
How can university/nonprofit partnerships empower writers and artists to engage in reciprocal learning in the borderlands?”
Reception: Tuesday, October 24, 5:00-7:00pm
Join the artists and celebrate the Art Research Integration project.
No resources available for this event
Event Description:
Increasingly, researchers are becoming more intentional about the impact that their research can have on society, beyond traditional disciplinary measures. In this online seminar, we will introduce some of the distinct types of impact plans that federal funding agencies are now requiring in their solicitations and provide tips and tools for successfully addressing these elements in your proposal. We will also describe frameworks that researchers and institutions can use to document and describe the societal impact of their funded projects, including results from a pilot project conducted by the University of Arizona.
Our special guest, Susan Renoe, will discuss the evolution and current state of broader impacts in the National Science Foundation and highlight the resources available through the NSF-funded Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS).
Speakers:
Jen Fields - Executive Director, Office of Societal Impact, Division of Research, Innovation and Impact, University of Arizona
Michelle Higgins - Associate Director, Office of Societal Impact, Division of Research, Innovation and Impact, University of Arizona
Alison Meadow - Associate Research Professor, Office of Societal Impact, Division of Research, Innovation and Impact, University of Arizona
Gigi Owen - Research Scientist, Climate Assessment for the Southwest, Arizona Institute for Resilience, University of Arizona
Featured Speaker:
Susan Dixon Renoe, Ph.D. - Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Development & Strategic Partnerships, Division of Research, Innovation and Impact and Office of Extension and Engagement, University of Missouri
Resources:
- Pathways to Impact PowerPoint
- Presentation Recording
Understanding Your Impact: Evaluating and Demonstrating Broader and Societal Impacts of Research
Participants will better understand he roll of project valuation in research impact and be provided with tools to develop impact evaluation plans tailored to their research goals. We will introduce standard evaluation tools such as logic models, as well as innovative frameworks for understanding and articulating how your research is used in society.
Resources:
- PowerPoint Presentation
- Presentation Recording
Community Engagement and Collaboration: Building Strong Community Partnerships Through Research
Participants will learn about best practices and considerations for community engaged research projects; the basics of successful collaborative project management; and strategies for building sustained partnerships that help projects thrive now and into the future.
Resources:
PowerPoint Presentation
Print Out for Event
SIROW Project List
Presentation Recording
Exploring Broader and Societal Impacts of Research Workshop
Participants will be introduced to broader impact of research and how to integrate impact more purposefully into research projects; a range of impact categories recognized by funders, including those specific to NSF's review criteria; how to develop an impact CV to complement their research CV.
Resources:
PowerPoint Presentation
BI Planning Worksheet
BI Identity Workshop
Presentation Recording