In order to plan meaningful Broader Impacts activities, it is critical that you start planning early! Ideally, planning should start at least 2-3 months before the proposal is due. This will allow you sufficient time to brainstorm ideas and modify after talking with potential collaboration partners. It is also advisable to plan and conduct Broader Impacts activities even before you begin working on a specific grant proposal! NSF reviewers like to see alignment between a PI’s established track record of involvement in Broader Impacts-type activities and their future plans.
A good place to get a basic overview of what a strong broader impacts plan looks like is with the Broader Impacts Guiding Principles and Questions document.
Read more by expanding the sections below. Request a Broader Impacts Consultation with the SI Team
According to the current NSF Merit Review Criteria, the following may be considered as broader impacts goals:
- Full participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
- Improved STEM education and educator development at any level
- Increased public scientific literacy and public engagement with science and technology
- Improved well-being of individuals in society
- Development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce
- Increased partnerships between academia, industry, and others
- Improved national security
- Increased economic competitiveness of the United States
- Enhanced infrastructure for research and education
It should be emphasized that this list is not exhaustive, and that it is not expected that you develop a broader impacts plan that accomplishes all of those goals. Based on your interests and prior experiences, focus on one or two that are most relevant, with an emphasis on presenting an achievable, assessable plan that will have impact, and is well integrated with the scientific/technological goals of your project. Often, the Broader Impacts plans that are the most successful involve partnerships with community-based organizations or campus programs and infrastructure. These partners often have built trust with your target audience and have the types of resources and expertise likely not found within your research group.
Assess Your Goals and Capabilities Take time to determine what you hope to get out of the Broader Impacts activities as well as the specific, unique capabilities or resources you and/or your lab possess.
- Are there any particular social outcomes you are especially passionate about?
- Is there a particular audience you would like to reach or a particular format of activity or communication that you would like to gain experience in?
- Realistically, how much time do you have to devote to Broader Impacts activities over the course of your grant?
- Do you and/or members of your lab have any unique skills or access to any unique resources that could be used?
Before you begin writing the broader impacts sections of your proposal, it is critical to define the key implementation details for your proposed broader Impacts activities. Use the guiding questions below to help define these details, which also aligns with the NSF review criteria below.
Describe WHAT you are doing:
• What are the goals of your broader impacts activities?
• What discrete activities will you be executing?
• What past work or established approaches are these activities based off of?
Describe WHY you chose the proposed broader impacts activities:
• How does this connect to your research and experiences?
• What resources and/or skills do you or your partners have that uniquely qualify you to do this?
• What socially relevant outcomes could result from this work?
Describe HOW you will EXECUTE your broader impacts activities
• What is the overall timeline for these activities? Key milestones?
• What resources will these activities require and how will those resources be acquired?
• Who will support or staff these activities?
Describe HOW you will evaluate your broader impacts activities:
• What method(s) of assessment will you be using and who will conduct the evaluation?
• When/how frequently will data be captured for the evaluation?
• How will evaluation data be captured, conducted, and analyzed?
While more funding agencies are increasingly focused on Broader Impacts, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has developed comprehensive review criteria.
NSF Review Criteria:
When evaluating NSF proposals, reviewers are asked to consider what the proposers want to do, why they want to do it, how they plan to do it, how they will know if they succeed, and what benefits could accrue if the project is successful. These issues apply both to the technical aspects of the proposal and the way in which the project may make broader contributions. To that end, reviewers will be asked to evaluate all proposals against two criteria:
- Intellectual Merit: The Intellectual Merit criterion encompasses the potential to advance knowledge; and
- Broader Impacts: The Broader Impacts criterion encompasses the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.
The following elements should be considered in the review for both criteria:
1. What is the potential for the proposed activity to:
a. Advance knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields (Intellectual Merit); and
b. Benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes (Broader Impacts)?
2. To what extent do the proposed activities suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts?
3. Is the plan for carrying out the proposed activities well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on a sound rationale? Does the plan incorporate a mechanism to assess success?
4. How well qualified is the individual, team, or organization to conduct the proposed activities?
5. Are there adequate resources available to the PI (either at the home organization or through collaborations) to carry out the proposed activities?
For a more detailed discussion of the NSF’s review criteria, please see their Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide.