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 This special issue is the result of a two-year effort to identify, pilot, and publish scholarly research about the National Science Foundation’s (NSFs) broader impacts (BI) criterion and its role in community engagement as an integral part of agency-funded research projects (NSF OIA-2140950). NSF’s BI requirements reflect its intention to support research that not only pushes the boundaries of scientific knowledge, but also makes meaningful contributions to society. Participating institutions worked to build capacity in their researchers to better develop BI projects, including those that enhanced their engagement with local communities. This issue highlights the work, outcomes, and recommendations of these institutions as they explored BI resources and frameworks for building the research impact capacity of researchers and institutions. 

More than 27 years have passed since the National Science Board identified Broader Impacts as one of two merit criteria for National Science Foundation proposals. Yet many researchers remain less certain of how to develop, implement, and assess a broader impact plan. This multi-method study of a Broader Impacts (BI) rubric analyzed expert panels that included BI professionals and researchers for both content validity and reliability. Focus groups with researchers explicate the challenges researchers face regarding BI plans and the potential value of the rubric as a tool for use. It revealed the challenges researchers have in weighing proven strategies versus innovative strategies, a bias documented by other scholars. Researchers stated concern with how to weigh the different facets of the rubric to arrive at a single score. Moreover, researchers reported that their disciplinary field influenced how they interpreted the audiences whose needs and interests may be met through BI plans. These distinctions represent a range of different types of community engaged scholarship (e.g., public information network, community-campus partnership, K-12 schools’ partnerships). Finally, researchers found the BI rubric useful in evaluating and developing their own BI plans as well as their role in panels to ultimately strengthen the field of funded BI work. 

ABSTRACT The National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI) seeks to foster a community of practice that increases individual and institutional capacity for, and engagement in, broader impact (BI) activities and scholarship. NABI currently has 537 individual members representing more than 210 institutions and organizations who are part of the growing network of professionals. The National Science Foundation (NSF) evaluates all proposals on their intellectual merit and their broader impacts. Many investigators grapple with how to articulate and effectively engage broad audiences in materials science and STEM. Here, we describe the effort of NABI to address BI challenges, present the NABI document Broader Impacts, Guiding Principles and Questions for National Science Foundation Principal Investigators and Proposal Reviewers; highlight the impacts of NABI as a catalyst for building BI capacity; and provide an example of assessing an innovative program’s BI.