Broader Impacts Seminar Session 2: Broader Impact Evaluation/Broadening Participation
The National Science Foundation considers two criteria in their review of proposals: intellecutal 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 throughout February and March 2023.
One way to address the NSF's broader impacts requirement is through activities that focus on what the NSF refers to as broadening participation, or "expanding efforts to increase participation from underrepresented groups and diverse institutions throughout the United States." This session will explore broadening participation activities, why they are a priority for the NSF, and how to plan, implement, and assess them successfully. Several specific examples will be presented and discussed.
All NSF proposals must not only have a broader impacts component, but a well-articulated plan for evaluating the broader impacts activities that are being proposed. This can present a challenge for investigators who are not trained in program evaluation. This workshop will provide a brief introduction to the basics of program evaluation and connect participants with some tools and resources to help them get started. It will also explore the question of self-evaluation vs. "outsourcing" by working with an external evaluator.
Visit the link to register for one or all workshops!