Along with the review of the intellectual merit of a proposal, the National Science Foundation reviews the merit of its Broader Impacts – the societal impact of the proposed research. Each proposal submitted to the NSF must include a section about its intended Broader Impacts. According to the NSF Grant Proposal Guide, these Broader Impacts (BI) are reflected in such questions as:

• “How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning?
• How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)?
• To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships?
• Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding?
• What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?"

MSU’s Office of University Outreach and Engagement offers the following support:

• Identifying possible avenues for BI activities
• Review of BI statement on proposals
• Assistance with finding and connecting with MSU and/or community partners to support BI activities
• Consulting about evaluation of your BI activities
• With grant consultants from OVPRGS, advice in preparing BI statements

Contact: Laurie Van Egeren, Interim Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement
Contact: Miles McNall, Director for Community-Engaged Research, Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship