In April 2025, NSF provided updated guidance on the Foundation's priorities, including a change in emphasis on the activities that are acceptable for meeting the Broader Impacts criterion, especially in the area of Broadening Participation. Researchers are encouraged to refer to this page for the latest information.

April 18, 2025

NSF Priorities Update

This webinar, hosted by the Center for Advancing Research Impacts in Society (ARIS), discusses lessons learned from a two-year study published as a special issue in the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship. Learn how to transform last-minute proposal rushes into a proactive approach to BI brainstorming and proposal development. Recorded April 8, 2025.

April 8, 2025

Watch Webinar

This article by Alexandra Dufresne, published in The Chronicle of Higher Education (March 13, 2025), provides practical advice for academics on how to work effectively with state and local policymakers to make their research impactful.

March 13, 2025

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All NSF proposals are evaluated on both their Intellectual Merit and their Broader Impacts. In this Bioscience article, Susan Renoe descries how BI criteria have evolved over the years, and how researchers can effectively address them.

March 2025

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The following page provides background information on how NSF defines Broader Impacts, that is, the societal benefits that may accrue from research, examples of the desired outcomes the Foundation supports, and how Broader Impacts are reviewed.

NSF Broader Impacts