The National Science Foundation considers two criteria in their review of proposals: intellectual merit and broader impacts (BI). Broader impacts relate to how the proposed research will “benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes” and is increasingly used as the differentiator between which excellent proposals to fund or not.
The Training Team from the NSF-supported Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) organization will conduct five interactive virtual workshops on Friday, Feb. 3, 17 and Friday, March 3, 17, and 31 from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.
Session 5: BI Identity
Friday, March 31 @ 9 a.m.-11 a.m.
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.
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).