Creating effective Broader Impact proposals

Science Center Outreach, in collaboration with the Office of Vice President for Research, the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, and the members of the Broader Impacts Committee, helps Brown faculty and researchers respond effectively to the Broader Impacts criterion and other outreach requirements of governmental funding agencies.

National Science Foundation proposals must include a Broader Impact component that integrates research with education and/or that enhances the diversity of NSF-funded programs and activities. As a principal investigator develops a proposal, it is important to think broadly about how the project will address these principal strategies. The intellectual merits of most proposals are robust and detailed. A thoughtfully conceived and innovative broader impact section can substantially improve the chances of the proposal being funded.

We help faculty and researchers describe the impact of their proposed activities and help develop evaluation plans to measure these impacts.  A compelling evaluation plan provides proposal reviewers and program officers with strong justification to highly rate, and strongly consider, the proposal for funding.

We provide Broader Impact consultation services in the following areas:

• Alternative pedagogical innovations
• Informal science education
• Innovative outreach projects
• Interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary collaborations
• Outreach/education assessment
• Partnerships with educators and pre-collegiate schools
• Partnerships with historically black colleges and universities/minority-serving institutions
• Partnerships with community colleges
• Professional development for educators
• Research based hands-on activities
• Under-represented minority (URM) pipeline in STEM fields

For more information about our Broader Impacts services for faculty and researchers, contact Dean Oludurotimi Adetunji, Director of Science Center Outreach.