What are Broader Impacts?

NSF uses the term "broader impacts" to describe the way in which a proposed research project benefits society at large, either through the research itself or through related activities. Other federal agencies require similar documents, such as DOE's Community Benefits Plans. Researchers crafting proposals for large, collaborative projects should be prepared to describe the ways in which their research will benefit the public, which could include such topics as workforce development and diversification, public engagement in research, and STEM education. 

Below is a list of useful information sources and potential partners to help you Engage the Community, Get Students Involved, Expand Your Research, Commercialize Your Work, and increase Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility.

Learn more about Broader Impacts at NSF

Information Sources

Potential Partners

Engage the Community

  • Engaged UVA was launched by the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Outreach in 2017 in an effort to gather and highlight information on the community engaged programs already underway at the University. The site reflects current and ongoing community-based initiatives, and allows users to search for associated faculty, courses, projects, and community partners. 
  • The Equity Center works to create mutually beneficial partnerships between UVA and the community that go beyond the standard of "first, do no harm" toward justice and liberation. They support community-engaged scholarship and research-practice partnerships that create positive change collaboratively with local communities.
  • The integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV) is a collaboration of public and private institutions across the Commonwealth of Virginia that offers a variety of tools and resources, including pilot/seed grant funding and training opportunities for research professionals and community partners. iTHRIV connects clinical and academic investigators with diverse communities, patient groups, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and industry partners for health related research.  iTHRIV works to ensure that institutions are addressing the important needs of the community.
  • Residents for Respectful Research (R3) operates as a community-led companion to UVA’s Institutional Review Board for Social and Behavioral Science (IRB-SBS), forming a mutually beneficial partnership where community participation prevents research projects from exploiting low-wealth residents and ensures that the research conducted is beneficial to the community. Protocols are routed to R3 directly by the IRB-SBS.
  • Virginia Humanities encourages discovery and connection through the humanities by supporting and producing cultural, civic, local, and global educational programs for broad public audiences. They work with individuals and communities to explore the past, confront current issues, and discover a promising future.

Get Students Involved

  • Center for the Liberal Arts (CLA) provides content-based professional development programs for K-12 teachers across a broad range of disciplines. CLA staff have partnered with University faculty to offer these high-quality programs, with CLA managing logistics and making connections with school districts to invite teachers to participate. The CLA team can work with UVA faculty from across Grounds to develop public outreach programs that make grant applications more competitive while also providing meaningful and enriching content-based professional development for K-12 partners from across the Commonwealth. 
  • The Office of Citizen Scholar Development: Undergraduate Research exists to encourage, promote, and support student research experiences. The office provides grants for student research and operates the Undergraduate Student Opportunities in Academic Research (USOAR) Program.
  • The Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs is dedicated to creating a University-wide focus on graduate education and postdoctoral training by establishing good communication and working relationships with graduate schools, departments, graduate students, and postdocs.
  • The School for Continuing and Professional Education (SCPS) helps working adults finish their degrees and advance their careers. They offer a variety of online and in-person programs including bachelor’s degree completion programs, professional certificates, a master’s in public safety, and other career accelerators.

Expand Your Research 

  • Innovations in Fabrication (IFAB) at UVA Engineering is an integrated, cost-share facility supporting a broad array of research activities in microsystems, to include terahertz, infrared and photonics detectors and circuits, microfluidics, solar cells and multifunctional materials and devices, and biomanufacturing, nanobiology and soft materials, to include CAD-bio, biofabrication, nanomedicine, gene transfer and tissue engineering. 
  • The integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV) is a transformational cross-Commonwealth collaboration that leverages the latest advances in data science to accelerate innovation in health-related research and facilitate team science. Partners within iTHRIV include Carilion Clinic, the University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech, as well as affiliates the Center for Open Science and the UVA Licensing & Ventures Group.
  • The Link Lab at UVA Engineering is a world-class center of excellence in cyber-physical systems. The lab is committed to cross-cutting research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries in order to make fundamental contributions to technology and engineering that are grounded in and applied to real world problems to benefit the greater good.
  • School of Medicine Research Core Facilities allow the presence of specialized instruments and personnel that individual laboratories cannot afford. Personnel in the cores provide expertise on the capabilities of their instruments and services and develop new applications for their techniques. The cores provide training and support for user operated instruments.
  • The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service offers unbiased applied research services, including survey design, data collection and analysis; economic analyses and workforce data; census and demographic data; and clean energy and sustainability data. The Cooper Center also provides leadership development, consulting, and mediation services statewide and beyond, as well as partnering with the Go Virginia Region 3 Council to advance workforce and community development in southern Virginia.

Commercialize Your Work

  • UVA Economic Development can help connect researchers with relevant industry, community, and government partners, and review your community benefit plan.
  • UVA Innovates is a new platform to catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship among students, faculty, and staff.
  • UVA Licensing & Ventures Group partners with faculty, researchers, and investors to bring innovations discovered at UVA to the marketplace. They also lead UVA's NSF-funded I-Corps program, an immersive program for University researchers translating discoveries and inventions into impact.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility

  • The Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is deeply committed to enhancing the wellbeing, safety and success of all UVA faculty, students, staff, alumni, visitors and our neighbors. We achieve our mission through the coordinated and collective impact of the Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights; the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and the Center for Community Partnerships.
  • UVA Accessibility approaches accessibility collaboratively and holistically, encompassing the digital environment, the built environment, and the attitudinal environment.