NSF Broader Impacts Resources

In general, NSF’s mission is to:

• Promote the progress of science
• Advance the national health, prosperity and welfare
• Secure the national defense.

NSF and Administration Priorities

NSF has stated they will focus on funding Administration priorities such as:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI), including machine learning, autonomy, and related advances
• Quantum Information Science (QIS), including quantum computing and simulation
• Biotechnology, including genomics and synthetic biology
• Nuclear energy
• Translational science.

Additional areas of focus are stated in the NSF 2026 requested budget:

• Advanced manufacturing, including robotics and sensing technologies
• Microelectronics and Semiconductors, including advanced computer hardware
• Advanced Wireless, including communications technology and immersive technology.
• NSF also states they will prioritize “investments that complement private-sector R&D and offer strong potential to drive economic growth and strengthen U.S. technological leadership.”

Note: NSF’s site has not been universally updated to reflect new priorities. Guidance and examples from previously funded proposals may no longer be relevant.

As of June 18, 2025, investigators are advised to prioritize the first six categories listed in the 42 USC 1862p-14: Broader Impacts Review Criterion:

1. Increasing the economic competitiveness of the United States.

2. Advancing of the health and welfare of the American public.

3. Supporting the national defense of the United States.

4. Enhancing partnerships between academia and industry in the United States.

5. Developing an American STEM workforce that is globally competitive through improved pre-kindergarten through grade 12 STEM education and teacher development, and improved undergraduate STEM education and instruction.

6. Improving public scientific literacy and engagement with science and technology in the United States.

The seventh category, “(7) Expanding participation of women and individuals from underrepresented groups in STEM”, is deprioritized.

Broaden Participation

The Broaden Participation (BP) page has been renamed to Creating a STEM Workforce, with the goal of increasing “the participation of individuals, institutions and communities across the nation — ensuring broad access to resources and opportunities for discovery and innovation.”

Additional goals include:

• Building STEM education and research capacity
• Catalyzing new areas of STEM research
• Developing strategic partnerships and alliances.

Protected Characteristics Guidance

As of April 25, 2025:

• “NSF's broadening participation activities, including activities undertaken in fulfillment of the Broader Impacts criterion, and research on broadening participation, must aim to create opportunities for all Americans everywhere.
  
  These efforts should not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups. Research projects with more narrow impact limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics do not effectuate NSF priorities.”

Protected characteristics in the U.S. are defined by relevant laws (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, etc.), and currently include: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, and genetic information.

Protected Characteristics Engagement

Investigators may conduct engagement activities based on protected characteristics only as part of broad engagement activities.

• “NSF will continue to operate legally mandated programs that aim to expand participation in STEM for individuals of protected characteristics so long as the projects submitted to these programs do not preference or limit participation based on these protected characteristics.”

Investigators must ensure that “all outreach, recruitment, or participatory activities in NSF projects are open and available to all Americans.”

NSF reviews Broader Impacts on the following five criteria:

1. What is the potential for the proposed activity to benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes?
2. To what extent do the proposed activities suggest and explore creative, original or potentially transformative concepts?
3. Is the plan for carrying out the proposed activities well-reasoned, well-organized and based on sound rationale? Does the plan incorporate a mechanism to assess success?
4. How well qualified is the individual, team or institution to conduct the proposed activities?
5. Are there adequate resources available to the principal investigator (either at the home institution or through collaborations) to carry out the proposed activities?

Broader Impacts can also be related to research, including:

• Your research activities.
• Activities directly related to your research.
• Activities that are supported by, but complementary to, your research activities.

ReD provides Broader Impacts resources:

General Resources

• In conjunction with Rutgers University, the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) created a BI Toolkit that walks researchers through creating the Broader Impact section of a proposal. The toolkit consists of:

  • The BI Guiding Principles document explains each review criteria.

  • The BI Checklist itemizes each review criteria.

  • The BI Wizard helps produce an outline of BI points to help frame the Broader Impacts text.

  • The BI Rubric helps evaluate a specific BI plan.

Note: The BI Toolkit has been updated to reflect 2025 NSF priorities.

• The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) provides resources and connections for informal STEM education.

  • CAISE worked in cooperation with NSF’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program.

• An Insider Perspective on Broader Impacts—A 2025 BioScience article by Susan D. Renoe with useful suggestions on writing BI plans.

• REVISE (Informal Science)—Resources for informal STEM education (under review).

NSF Resources

• 2025 NSF Merit Review full-length video that explains the NSF merit review process, including ad-hoc and multi-tiered reviews.

  • They recommend: “Ask Early, Ask Often.”

  • Looking for regional impact

• The State of U.S. Science & Engineering Biennial Report—Provides quantitative information on the state of US science, technology, and engineering.
  • Includes source data from various surveys, including earned doctorates; graduate students in STEM; public perceptions; and knowledge about science, business R&D, and state government research.
• NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) as of May 20, 2024.
  • Cornell Summary of NSF Core Policy Changes to the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) as of May 20, 2024.

• The 2022-2026 Strategic Plan features NSF strategic goals from the previous Administration (e.g., “Grow a diverse STEM workforce to advance the progress of science and technology”, etc.).

  Note: Until a new strategic plan is published, references to current agency goals may be more effective than quoting previous strategic goals.

Cornell Resources

• Working with NSF—NSF resources, tools, and training.

  Note: Contact ReD for resources and guidance.

Many Broader Impacts projects are done in partnership with existing programs and organizations on campus and in the surrounding community.

The following shows a list of Cornell’s local programs and partners that focus on the public/community, K-12 outreach, undergraduate and graduate students, teachers and faculty, and everyone:

Note: These resources are a representative sample. Reach out to ReD to help facilitate contacting potential partners.

• Identify where your field intersects with societal needs, challenges, and opportunities.  
• Which societal needs and issues most connect to your research? Which societal issues are most important to you, or the future of your field? Reflect on where exactly you can see yourself having societal impact, and remember that these activities can expand and develop over the course of many NSF-funded projects.  Dream big, but start with a realistic plan over the next three to five years that can launch you towards realizing larger societal impacts goals over time. 
• Compelling Broader Impacts plans build on past experiences, genuine interests, and the networks and contexts unique to each researcher.  Integrate these components into your plan.
• Structure each proposal in a way that sets yourself up to connect your research and education aims with societal needs over the course of your NSF-supported research career.

• Understand and articulate how your Broader Impacts plan advances NSF's vision for the Broader Impacts of Research (see NSF Strategic Plan and Broadening Participation and Diversity in the Resources section below.)
• Think carefully about the goals of your Broader Impacts plan. Make sure you have short-term and long-term goals, and a pathway of resources, activities, and partners that connect them. Prioritize your efforts and time around specific goals that can be tracked and measured.
• Broader Impacts is not simply a list of unrelated, or random outreach activities. Focus on a plan that is rooted in societal needs and interests and use data/literature to demonstrate the need for your Broader Impacts plan.
• You don’t have to reinvent the wheel for your Broader Impacts plan to be innovative. In fact many of the best plans leverage, expand, or reimagine, a variety of existing resources on campus and in the community (contact us about our ‘NSF-ready’ community partners).
• Broadening participation of members of underrepresented groups in STEM is an NSF priority. 

• Build on best practices. If you want to work with young people in out-of school settings, what are the best practices for doing so? If you decide to focus on STEM teacher development, what is currently known to be the most effective approach? If you decide to focus on public science communication, what are the best methods and platforms for scientists that use this approach, how do you reach public audiences, and how do you measure the impact?
• Reference the literature (i.e., STEM education, scientific literacy, workforce needs) and NSF data ( i.e., NSF Science and Engineering Indicators) to show how your Broader Impacts plan is relevant. Identify the key societal issues you will address, and the evidence-based methods you will use. Approach this plan as you would a scientific research problem, with literature cited, research questions, methods, and a plan to share results.
• Are there particular skills, knowledge, or experiences that would enable you to do this work with more insight and credibility? Consider workshops, seed grants, and fellowships for faculty with the Cornell Institute for Teaching Innovation, Diversity and Inclusion, or Community Engagement.
• Join forces with outside experts to ensure that your plan will be successful.  In doing so, think about the opportunities and resources that are already at Cornell, in the community, or in your wider professional network.

• Leverage your network or local community partners to strengthen your efforts, effectiveness, and access to the public. Science museums, public media, public service or public health center, youth programs, and professional societies are all potential partners for Broader Impacts.  Peers and public-facing offices in your department and across campus can be resources and partners. *Contact research_development@cornell.edu for community partner ideas and contact information. 
• Establish good relationships with Broader Impacts partners. Nurture partnerships and keep them current, even when grant deadlines are not looming. Ensure that your partners' expertise, needs, and aims align with your interests so that everyone benefits from the partnership.
• Community-based partnerships can often help researchers to directly broaden participation of members of underrepresented groups in ways that that might not be possible on your own.
• Partners may have capacity and expertise in program evaluation.

• Most broader Impacts plans require a variety of resources to have an impact.
• Allocating a realistic budget for broader impacts shows commitment to the work and credibility in a way that plans without such budgets do not.
• Like research partners, community partners often require budgets and resources for these projects. Demonstrate that you value the partner's contributions and expertise by budgeting for their time and involvement.
• Be sure to discuss with your partner how much they will need to complete the work outlined.

Include your trainees (undergraduate through postdoctoral) in the Broader Impacts plan; make a case for how their participation in the activities can support their professional development.

• Include a plan to evaluate and refine your efforts and demonstrate impact over time. This is only possible with clear and measurable project goals.
• Utilize campus resources and internal and external consultants to assist you in developing an evaluation plan.
• Share successes and generalizable outcomes with public and professional networks.  Connect with university and departmental communications staff. Keep your program office informed.