Merit Review Broader Impacts Criterion

Thanks to the Center for Sustainable Development, Director Dr. M. Kennicutt, http://csd.tamu.edu/ for developing these pages on NSF Broader Impacts Components

Proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation are evaluated through use of two merit review criteria, which all proposals must explicitly address:

• Intellectual Merit
• Broader Impacts

Most proposers have little difficulty responding to the criterion relating to intellectual merit. However, many proposers have difficulty understanding how to frame the broader impacts of the activities they propose to undertake. This site is organized to explain potential considerations used in assessing the broader impacts of a proposed activity. The site includes illustrative activities that, when successfully incorporated in a project description, will help reviewers and NSF program staff address the broader impacts criterion in the review and decision process.

NSF Guidance

• Representative Activities - http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf
• Division of Chemistry - Broader Impacts Synopsis - http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13626
• Broader Impacts Showcase -
• http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsf0540/nsf0540.jsp
• http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsf0540/nsf0540.pdf
• Translating Science for Society - http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsf0533/nsf0533.pdf
• Dear Colleague Letter from the NSF Division of Mathematical Sciences - http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07046/nsf07046.jsp
  

The examples and resources provided at this site are not intended to be exhaustive, nor is any particular example relevant to all proposals. Proposers can draw from the examples but are urged to be creative in their approaches to demonstrating the broader impacts of their projects. An asset that should be considered by a proposer is how to link their activities to similar kinds of activities already being conducted by others. In addition the proposer should carefully consider how to customize the examples and activities presented to the research and education projects being proposing for funding. Proposers also should consider what types of activities best suit their interests while enhancing the broader impacts of the project being proposed.

To focus the discussions and organize the wide range of activities that might usefully be applied to a proposer's project to fulfill the Broader Impacts Criterion (Summary), material is organized based on the National Science Foundations definition of broader impact:

• Advance Discovery and Understanding (Summary)
• Train and mentor students
• Present seminars and organize workshops and symposia
• Update curriculum by writing texts and develop new instructional materials and/or laboratory experiments
• Curriculum Development and Instructional Materials
• Share laboratory methods, instrumentation and software for data analysis
• Integrate research activities into the teaching at all educational level
• Research and Teaching
• Include students of all levels in the proposed research
• Participate in the recruitment, training, and /or professional development of K-12 teachers
• Professional Development of Teachers
• Current K-12 Activities  http://sigmaxi.tamu.edu/outreachefforts.html
• Develop research-based educational materials or contribute to databases useful in teaching
• Partner with researchers and educators to develop effective means of incorporating research into learning and education
• Encourage students to particpate in meetings and activities of professional societies
• Establish special mentoring programs for high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, and technicians conducting research
• Mentoring Programs
• Involve graduate and post-doctoral researchers in undergraduate teaching and research activities
• Develop, adopt, adapt, or disseminate effective models and pedagogic approaches to teaching
• Broaden Participation of Underrepresented Groups (Summary)
• Establish research and education collaborations with students from underrepresented groups
• Establish research and education collaborations with faculty and students of underrepresented groups from minority-serving institutions, non-PhD granting institutions, EPSCoR insitutions, community colleges, undergraduate institutions and colleges for women
• Make campus visits and presentations at institutions that serve underrepresented groups
• Mentor early career scientists and engineers from underrepresented groups
• Participate in developing new approaches to engage underserved individuals, groups, and communities in science and engineering
• Participate in conferences, workshops, and field activities where diversity is a priority
• Enhance Infrastructure (Summary)
• Mentor early-career scientists and engineers
• Identify and establish collaborations with academic insitutions, industry, government and international partners
• Stimulate and support development and dissemination of next-generation instrumentation, multi-user facilities, and other shared research and education paltforms
• Maintain, operate and modernize shared research and education infrastrucutre including science and technology and engineering research centers
• Upgrade the computation and computing infrastrucutre including advanced computing resources and new types of information tools
• Develop activities that ensure that multi-user facilities are sites of research and mentoring for large numbers of students
• Dissemination to Enhance Understanding (Summary)
• Write scholarly review articles and articles describing research to non-specialist audiences
• Create websites enhanced by engaging animations and movies
• Work with science centers on new exhibits
• Assist journalists with stories on technical topics
• Develop new art forms for communicating science to wider audiences
• Partner with museums, nature centers, science centers, and similar institutions to develop exhibits
• Give presentations to the broader community
• Make data available through databases, digital libraries, or other venues such as CD-ROMs
• Publish in diverse media to reach broad audiences
• Present research and education results in formats useful to policy makers, members of Congress, industry, and broad audiences
• Information Dissemination
• Particpate in multi- and interdisciplinary conferences, workshops, and research activities
• Integrate research with education activities in order to communicate in a broader context
• Benefits to Society (Summary)

• Link discovery and societal benefit with specific examples of research application and education results

• Partner with academic scientists, federal agencies, and the private sector to integrate research into programs and activities of national interest
• Analyze, interpret, and synthesize research and education results into formats understandable by the non-scientist
• Provide information for policy formulation by Federal, State, or local agencies

Chronicle of Higher Education website: "How to Write an Outreach Grant Proposal," Karen M. Markin