session b – broader impacts: what’s the big idea? j. britt holbrooksharon franks

Session B – Broader Impacts:What’s the big idea?

J. Britt Holbrook Sharon FranksCenter for the Study of Interdisciplinarity Research Proposal Development ServiceUniversity of North Texas UC San Diego

britt.holbrook@unt.edu sfranks@ucsd.eduwww.csid.unt.edu http://rapids.ucsd.edu/

COSEE NOWBroaden Your Impact Webinar Series19 May, 2010

Britt climbing a mountain Sharon with Wally

2010 Ocean Sciences Meeting24 FebruaryPortland, Oregon, USA

NSF’s Broader Impacts Criterion (BIC)

Who is the audience for your BI statement?

• Reviewers

• Other scientists

• Reviewers

• Other scientists• BI experts?!

• Reviewers

• NSF

• Reviewers

• NSF

• Program officers

• Reviewers

• NSF

• Program officers• Committee of Visitors

• Reviewers

• NSF

• Program officers• Committee of Visitors• AC/GPA

• Reviewers

• NSF

• Program officers• Committee of Visitors• AC/GPA• NSB

• Reviewers

• NSF

• US Congress

• Reviewers

• NSF

• US Congress

• America COMPETES Act of 2007

• Reviewers

• NSF

• US Congress

• America COMPETES Act of 2007• Postdoctoral mentoring plan• Ethics education requirement• Report to Congress on national needs BIC helps meet

H.R. 5116 America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010

SEC. 214. BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERION.

Subsection (a) – “Goals”

Lists 8 specific national needs toward which BIC ought to be directed

Subsection (a) – “Goals”

Lists 8 specific national needs toward which BIC ought to be directed

RELEVANCE

Subsection (b) – “Policy”

Directs NSF to institute policy changes that will encourage institutions and individual PIs who receive NSF funding to:

• partner with experts to develop BIC training programs • use existing models for BI implementation, and• develop evaluation and assessment procedures for BIC

Subsection (b) – “Policy”

Directs NSF to institute policy changes that will encourage institutions and individual PIs who receive NSF funding to:

• partner with experts to develop BIC training programs • use existing models for BI implementation, and• develop evaluation and assessment procedures for BIC

QUALITY

RELEVANCE + QUALITY =

ACCOUNTABILITY

How well does the activity…

• Promote teaching, training learning?

• Broaden participation of underrepresented groups?

• Enhance research and education infrastructure?

• Achieve broad dissemination?

• Benefit society?

How well does the activity… [ QUALITY ]

[ RELEVANCE ]• Promote teaching, training learning?

• Broaden participation of underrepresented groups?

• Enhance research and education infrastructure?

• Achieve broad dissemination?

• Benefit society?

NSF Dear Colleagues Letter on QUALITY

It is expected that project activities related to broader impacts will be of the same caliber as those addressing the intellectual merit criterion. They should be based on good scholarship, and be designed to achieve clearly stated goals and metrics, while possessing the appropriate expertise and resources available for implementation. Thus, a simple listing of outreach activities, or reference to inclusion of research personnel who are members of underrepresented groups, falls short of the rigor required to satisfactorily address this criterion. [Bold added, italics in original]

Advice on QUALITY

You should develop a BIC statement that includes a description of:

• the intended AUDIENCE you are targeting

• the NEEDS of that audience

• your PLAN to meet those needs, including:

• PERSONNEL (show relevant expertise)• FUNDS (demonstrate feasibility)

• your ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION plan.

Advice on RELEVANCE

You should develop a BIC goal that:

• Revolves around something about which YOU CARE

• Is obviously RELATED TO YOUR RESEARCH

• Builds upon SOMETHING YOU ALREADY DO

NSF asks:

How well does the activity promote teaching, training, and learning?

Ask yourself:

What do I do that promotes teaching, training, and learning?

How can I describe that in my BIC statement?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity promote teaching, training, and learning?

Ask yourself:

What do I do that promotes teaching, training, and learning?

Do you:

• educate students?• mentor students and/or postdocs?• engage in informal education activities?• think about how you learn from these activities, as well?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity broaden participation of underrepresented groups?

Ask yourself:

What do I do that broadens participation of underrepresented groups?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity broaden participation of underrepresented groups?

Ask yourself:

What do I do that broadens participation of underrepresented groups?

Do you:

• include members of underrepresented groups on your research team?• reach out to underrepresented groups in any of your education activities?• think about reasons other than social justice to broaden participation?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity enhance research and education infrastructure?

Ask yourself:

What do I do to enhance research and education infrastructure?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity enhance research and education infrastructure?

Ask yourself:

What do I do to enhance research and education infrastructure?

Do you:

• engage in interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary activities?• share equipment or facilities with others?• think about how you can enhance those activities, and how those activities enhance your science?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity achieve broad dissemination?

Ask yourself:

What do I do to achieve broad dissemination?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity achieve broad dissemination?

Ask yourself:

What do I do to achieve broad dissemination?

Do you:

• publish outside of your field?• participate in Open Access policy?• blog, use social networks, present at conferences, etc.?• remember the data management plan NSF is going to require?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity benefit society?

Ask yourself:

What do I do to benefit society?

NSF asks:

How well does the activity benefit society?

Ask yourself:

What do I do to benefit society?

Do you:

• educate?• inform?• think about how your research is relevant outside of your field?

Don’t forget about NSF!

NSF insists that BI has always been part of its mission, but …

Overall, the scientific community has not fully embraced BIC.

NSF is caught between Congress and the scientific community, but …

NSF needs PIs to help make the case to Congress for funding!

NSF wants you!

NSF insists that BI has always been part of its mission, but …

Overall, the scientific community has not fully embraced BIC.

You can:

• Educate yourself about BIC.• Educate your fellow scientists and your institution about BIC.• Volunteer to serve as a reviewer – contact your program officer.• Apply to serve as a rotator at NSF.

NSF wants you!

NSF is caught between Congress and the scientific community, but …

NSF needs PIs to help make the case to Congress for funding!

You can:

• Take BIC seriously, approach it as you would intellectual merit.

• This applies not only when you are a proposer, but also …• when you are reviewing proposals, and• when you are mentoring students and postdocs!

Back to the reviewers

Things to remember:

• Reviewers are extremely busy, and …• they may not read your proposal carefully!

• Many reviewers may not have a good grasp of BIC, and …• they may not take your BI statement seriously!

• Reviewers need your help!

Back to the reviewers

How to help your reviewers:

• Use the language of the RFP, where applicable.

• Use the language of BIC: This proposed research will enhance the infrastructure for research and education in the following ways …. This research will benefit society by ….

• Think a bit like a member of Congress: This proposed research will enhance scientific literacy by …. This proposed research will address a pressing national need: national security or the Gulf oil spill.

• Be thorough and specific!

How to help your reviewers

• Use ALL of the application – there are many places to indicate BIs besides the 15 page description, including:

• Your biographical sketch: synergistic activities should be loaded with your history of engaging in BI activities.• Your data management plan is another supplemental document in which you can emphasize the BI of the current proposal.• Your description of your facilities can emphasize BI infrastructure at your institution or a partner institution.• Your budget and budget justification should talk about BI.• Your 1-page project summary should nail BIC.

Recommended online resources:

http://www.csid.unt.edu/topics/NSF-broader-impacts-criterion.html

http://rapids.ucsd.edu/documents/LeverageBroader.pdf

http://coseenow.net/groups/broader-impacts/

http://www.informalscience.org/ – informal education site

http://www.mpowir.org/ – mentoring women in physical oceanography

Thanks!

Liesl Hotaling for organizing the webinar series and inviting us to participate here, as well as for helpful comments and support.

Janice McDonnell, Chris Parsons, Sage Lichtenwalner, and COSEE NOW for helpful discussion and guidance, as well as for hosting the webinar.

You, for allowing us to broaden our impact. You can bet this activity will be included in Britt’s NSF bio sketch!

session b – broader impacts: what’s the big idea? j. britt holbrooksharon franks

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