National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Broader Impacts Workshop
11:00 am to 2:00 pm
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 for which excellent proposal to fund.
This is an in-person event. The event is split into two back-back sessions of 90 mins each. You are welcome to attend either or both sessions.
Session 1: (11 am-12:30 pm) is tailored to those who know what BI activity they wish to propose for their NSF grant application. During this session, the attendees will bring their BI write up and use the ARIS Toolkit’s review rubric to peer-review BI plans to get an idea of how competitive their plans are and brainstorm ways to improve their applications. They will also receive tips on making connections with institutional and community organizations to help put their plan into action.
Session 2: (12:30- 2:00 pm) is tailored to those new to BI Plans and will include a step-by-step guide to creating a competitive and NSF-compliant plan that aligns with their goals as a researcher.
Lunch will be provided and attendees for either session are welcome to come early or stay late to benefit from resources and materials shared throughout the program.
Speaker Information:
Dr. Katherine Chen
Dr. Chen is the Executive Director of the STEM Education Center at WPI. She typically does around 15 BI consultations each year and provides letters of collaboration when serving as a BI partner on a grant. She has written and has been PI and co-PI of numerous NSF grants (e.g., S-STEM, TUES, RET, Noyce), and has served on several NSF review panels. She has been Professor and Department Chair of Materials Engineering at the California Polytechnic (Cal Poly) State University, San Luis Obispo and has extensive experience in engineering education, community-engaged scholarship, and equity and inclusion advocacy.
Registration is required for this event.