I saw on your website that you have a youtube channel with helpful videos. Can you point us to one that would be helpful for new researchers trying to plan the broader impacts for their NSF project?
I find it particularly difficult (conducting education research) to separate out the intellectual merit and broader impacts.
Thanks!
- Colleen

Hi Colleen,

We do not have a video that specifically discusses the BI plan, but it is in the works right now. We hope to have it uploaded by the end of the summer. In the meantime, feel free to contact me (Renoes@missouri.edu) for help or resources any time.

Hi Colleen,

We are currently working on creating a repository of quality broader impacts activities for NABI members to reference when creating their own plans. In the meantime, though, several NABI members formed a committee to create our “Broader Impacts Guiding Principles and Questions for National Science Foundation Proposals.”

It does a nice job of outlining requirements for BI sections and posing critical questions grant applicants may overlook when putting together a grant proposal.

Found here:
http://broaderimpacts.net/wp-content/uploads/20...

It says that NABI has partnered with other organizations that support broader participation in the sciences, which organizations have you partnered with?

As a seasoned NSF investigator (and reviewer), I can say that “broader impacts” is often a confusing idea for many proposers (including me!). A service partner like NABI sounds like a great mechanism for helping to clarify what “broader impacts” could be.

I’m a bit curious about the “Broader Impacts Summit.” Is this intended to be an additional support mechanism, or to itself be a vehicle for “broader impact” and project dissemination?

Hi Barry,

The BI Summit is our annual conference for BI professionals, Faculty/researchers, Administrators, and students. We do include sessions that hit on project dissemination, and we are looking for more ways to include investigator sessions for future summits. So to answer your question, yes and yes!
We definitely hope that we are serving as a resource for investigators to learn more about BI, and also become aware of BI pros on their campuses. As we mentioned above, a group of NABI members created the Guiding Principles document for researchers and reviewers alike to begin the dialogue around what makes an excellent broader impacts proposal piece. We think it asks questions that are often overlooked when putting together a proposal, and at the very least serves as a starting point to assess the quality of your own BI activities.

This seems like a really great project! Will this network help people that do educational outreach connect with scientists trying to get their message out? I am just curious because I am interested in collaborating with research groups on their broader impacts by making new media educational outreach like podcasts or video web series.

Melissa: I’m sorry I missed your question. Right now we are partnering with another NSF funded org, the Institute for Broadening Participation (IBP): http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/

Hi Kathryn,

Yes! We definitely work with outreach professionals, through professional development, networking and identifying strategies to engage researchers in BI programming. If you are interested in joining NABI, you can sign up here: http://broaderimpacts.net/becoming-a-member/

In addition to wonderful videos like this, how is NABI currently recruiting and onboarding new members?

Hi Cullen,

We have over 460 members currently, mainly from word of mouth from other members and those who have attended events where NABI has presented, or have members at their institution. Membership is free at this time, and is easy as signing up for the listserv here: http://broaderimpacts.net/becoming-a-member/