The National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI) BI Working Group developed a guiding document for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) BI criterion. All information included on this page © NABI.
Types of Broader Impacts: According to the NSF Merit Review Criterion published in the Grant Proposal Guidelines (See page III-2), the following BI goals may be considered:
- Full participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in 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 partnership between academia, industry, and others
- Improved national security
- Increased economic competitiveness of the United States
- Enhanced infrastructure for research and education
The list above is not exhaustive, and it is not necessary to address more than one goal in a proposal, as long as the broader impact goal is likely to have a desired societal outcome and is well planned. However, the following five elements should be considered in the review process for broader impact activities.
- What is the potential for the proposed activity to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific desired societal outcomes?
- To what extent do the proposed activities suggest and explore create, original or potentially transformative concepts?
- 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?
- How well qualified is the individual, team or institution to conduct the proposed activities?
- Are there adequate resources available to the PI (either at the home institution or through collaborations) to carry out the proposed activities? is the budget allocated for Broader Impact activities sufficient to successfully implement them?
For more in-depth information around these questions and the guiding principles and questions, click here.
