When I tell you I struggled with "Broader Impacts," I mean I STRUGGLED.

From believing I'd already covered it in the "Intellectual Merit" section to reading every resource I could find to pestering my mentors with endless questions, I felt like I was trying to hold sand.

Was I missing something obvious? Did other researchers have some secret knowledge I didn't?

For me, this struggle wasn't about ticking a box on a grant application. It was about questioning the purpose and reach of my work as a scientist. Today, I'll share my journey from confusion to clarity and provide a framework for designing impactful research initiatives.

Below, we'll explore four skills:

1. Authentically connecting your expertise to societal impacts 🔗
2. Understanding four key broader impact areas 🔍
3. Mapping your research to broader impacts 🗺️
4. Building strategic impact partnerships 🫱🏽‍🫲🏾

Storytime

A Naive Beginning

It's 2017, and I'm sitting at a conference table in the Lewis lab, surrounded by fellow graduate students. We're reviewing a research paper and feeling confident about identifying the key findings. That is, until...

...we shared the key findings, and our advisor asked:

So what?

That simple question caught me off guard. I thought, "Well, it's published in a paper and was clearly important enough to write about, right?"

This practice (asking "So what?") helped me realize that a research finding can be meaningless if not grounded in the context of how it could be helpful.

The 1st Challenge

Fast forward to 2020.

I'm at my desk, drafting my first grant proposal as a postdoc.

• Intellectual Merit? ✅
• Knowledge Gap for the discipline? ✅
• "So what?" ✅

Then, I reached the Broader Impacts section. I looked it up in the NSF guidelines but felt even more confused. I thought, "I already covered the 'so what?' didn't I?"

So, I treated the section as an afterthought, adding some haphazard outreach activities and teaching workshops.

Unsurprisingly (and thankfully), it didn't get funded.

An Unexpected Opportunity

In 2022, I was presented with an extraordinary challenge: managing the broader impacts initiatives for MONET, an NSF-funded Center of Chemical Innovation.

MONET united 13 labs across some of the nation's top graduate chemistry programs, backed by $20 million in funding. I was thrilled and daunted by the resources available and the enormous responsibility.

My first task with MONET was leading the data collection and evaluation effort for an installment of the Multiverse Concert Series: The Art of Polymers, which was hosted at MIT.

The auditorium was filled, air buzzing with excitement as music and chemistry merged in an innovative performance. But as I analyzed the survey results, a sobering realization hit me:

Most of the audience was already familiar with MONET's work.

At that moment, standing amidst the post-concert chatter, a question struck me:

Who are we really impacting with this initiative?

This shift in perspective led to a fundamental insight:

• While Intellectual Merit answers the "so what?" for the discipline,
• Broader Impacts addresses the "for who?" outside the discipline.

A Framework for Designing Authentic Broader Impacts

After seven years of helping scientists maximize their research impact, I've distilled the essence of Authentic Broader Impacts into a simple yet powerful framework:

Impactful research authentically connects your expertise to those who can benefit most using available resources.

The four interconnected components are:

1. Authenticity 🧬 Who are you?
2. Expertise 🔬 What do you know?
3. Beneficiaries 🌍 Who will you serve?
4. Resources 🛠️ How will you help?

These components have helped us do the most good with our work when aligned.

Authentically connecting your expertise to societal impacts 🔗

What makes research impactful?

Given my background in education research, I found the goal of authentic learning compelling for defining authenticity in research:

Authentic learning aims to be more engaging, relevant, and effective by bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world application (Nachtigall et al., 2022).

The challenge is identifying the throughline that authentically connects us as researchers, what we study, and who our work can best serve beyond academia.

Authenticity 🧬 Who are you?

Designing authentic broader impacts is particularly crucial for researchers actively shaping their professional identity (and often most challenging).

To help you reflect on authenticity in your work, consider these questions:

1. What ignited your passion for your research area? How does this reveal who you are as a person and a researcher?
2. When have you explained your research to someone outside your field and received a strong reaction? What resonated with them, and why?
3. How has your expertise or research directly helped someone outside academia? How did this reshape your perspective on broader impacts?

If you find these questions challenging to answer, take some time to ponder them and be mindful of such moments in the coming weeks. Sort of as if I'd asked you to look out for blue cars 🚙 this week, now that you're looking for them, they're more likely to stand out to you.

These reflections will help you authentically connect your research to broader societal impacts. As an example, here's my reflection:

As a child, I was captivated by nature shows (e.g., Jeff Corwin and Crocodile Dundee) and spent hours reading National Geographic Kids to my stuffed animals.

But I didn't believe I could be a scientist - until I saw my stepbrother take apart a remote control "just to see how it worked." Suddenly, the audacity to explore the world as a scientist became possible.

Later, helping my cousin with homework, I discovered the magic of connecting complex ideas to things he loved. Seeing his eyes light up with understanding is something I'll never forget.

These experiences shaped my identity as a researcher:

I'm driven to understand the inner workings of things and share that knowledge with others.

My research focuses on how we understand and communicate about the world through chemistry. I chose this path to satisfy my insatiable curiosity and inspire others to ask "How?" and "Why?"

Understanding four key broader impact areas 🔍

Reflecting helps us identify the authentic connections between our research and potential societal impacts.

But how do we translate these insights into concrete, broader impacts?

Understanding the key areas where our research can substantially impact society helps bridge the gap between personal motivation and actionable implications.

I found the four "strong broader impacts" provided to NSF-funded Centers for Chemical Innovation particularly helpful:

1️⃣ Informal Science Communication 🎙️ - Increased public scientific literacy and engagement with science outside the classroom (i.e., museums, libraries, festivals, and community centers) to facilitate conversational exchanges or content, improving understanding or challenging perceptions of science research.

2️⃣ Broadening Participation 💗 - Full participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in STEM (e.g., partnering with MSIs, targeted outreach and recruitment, improving accessibility, and building community).

3️⃣ Higher Education & Professional Development 📈 - Improved STEM education and educator development at any level (e.g., creating co-mentorship, collaborative training, or workshops that make essential skills more accessible).

4️⃣ Innovation & Partnerships 💡 - Translating knowledge into solutions that benefit society through intellectual property development outside of academia (technology, business, government, policy, open-source tools, not-for-profit advancement, etc.).

Beneficiaries 🧬 Who will you serve?

Connecting our research to specific groups who can benefit most from our work has been crucial for authentic broader impacts. Let's explore how the four broader impact areas align with potential beneficiaries and societal outcomes:

I use this table as a guide for identifying potential beneficiaries and outcomes across different broader impact categories for my clients.

As you review this table, consider:

• Which beneficiaries align most closely with your research focus?
• What societal outcomes could your work potentially achieve?
• How does your throughline connect to these categories?

For instance, my throughline as a curious chemist exploring fundamental principles to inspire others aligns most closely with Informal Science Communication 🎙️ (General Public) and Broadening Participation 💗 (Underrepresented Scientists).

Now that we've identified potential beneficiaries and societal outcomes let's explore how to align them with your specific scientific expertise.

Mapping your research to broader impacts 🗺️

Expertise 🔬 What do you know?

Every research project has a unique potential for societal impact.

But can we identify and maximize that potential?

Here's an approach I've found effective:

Envision a Cartesian plane where:

1. The x-axis represents a spectrum from fundamental scientific understanding to practical application.
2. The y-axis represents a range from public engagement to applicability outside of academia.

Where does your research fit?

Let's see this framework in action with a real-world example. Watch as I complete the quiz for MONET:

The Research Category was identified as "💡 Use-Inspired Basic Research," and high-impact potential foci are identified as:

1. 🌿 Improved societal well-being (for Informal Science Communication),
2. ⚖️ Enhanced equity and inclusion (for Broadening Participation),
3. 💼 Enhanced career readiness (for Higher Education & Professional Development) and
4. 💰 Economic competitiveness (for Innovation & Partnerships)

Depending on the team involved (which will be discussed shortly), different types of research have varying capacities to advance societal outcomes. For example:

• 🔬 Basic Research might excel in advancing scientific knowledge and potentially improving STEM education.
• 🔧 Applied Research could contribute significantly to economic competitiveness and partnerships between academia and industry.
• 🏭 Translational Research could improve the well-being of individuals in society and inform public policy.

After completing the quiz, you should understand how your research authentically connects to the four broader impacts areas. But there's one more essential component: leveraging available resources.

Building strategic impact partnerships 🫱🏽‍🫲🏾

Resources 🛠️ How will you help?

Imagine your research reaching far beyond the lab and touching lives. If you chase that thread, it may bring you to the last, crucial question:

Who is already making the impact you aspire to achieve?

Once you've identified which impacts your research is well-suited to achieve, the next step is to build meaningful partnerships.

This often-overlooked approach can significantly enhance your proposal, increase the likelihood of your work having its intended impact, and foster respectful collaborations with the communities you aim to support.

Why are partnerships crucial?

1. They extend your reach beyond academia,
2. They bring in complementary expertise and resources, and
3. They increase the credibility and feasibility of your broader impacts plan.

Let's explore potential partnerships for each of the four broader impact areas. For each area, I'll provide three examples of strategic partnerships to help you maximize your impact:

Tips for Successful Partnerships:

1. Align goals: Ensure that your partnership goals align with your research objectives and your partner's mission.
2. Communicate clearly: Establish expectations, roles, and responsibilities.
3. Be flexible: Be open to adjusting your plans based on your partner's needs and capabilities.
4. Measure impact: Develop metrics to assess the effectiveness of your partnership and its broader impacts.
5. Sustain relationships: Build long-term relationships supporting ongoing and future initiatives.

Partnership Example: What's inside a soccer ball? ⚽️

The "What's inside a soccer ball?" initiative showcases the power of strategic partnerships in broader impacts.

Here's how it unfolded:

1. Inception: Dr. Haley Beech, then a graduate student at MIT and MONET member, recognized the challenge of making STEM accessible across cultural and language barriers. With an interdisciplinary team, she developed the "Materials Science of Soccer" curriculum, leveraging soccer's universal appeal to teach complex scientific concepts.
2. Adaptation: We saw an opportunity to expand this innovative approach at MONET. Collaborating with Dr. Beech and Dr. Rebekka Klausen (a MONET Senior Investigator at Johns Hopkins University), we transformed the curriculum into the "What's inside a soccer ball?" outreach kit, translating MONET's polymer chemistry research into engaging, hands-on activities.
3. Distribution: Mike Conti, MONET's managing director, spearheaded the assembly and distribution of these kits. We sent them to all 13 MONET-affiliated labs and made them available to anyone through our website, significantly expanding our reach.
4. Partnerships: The initiative's success catalyzed partnerships with organizations like the American Chemical Society's Kids Zone, Science Olympiad, and the International Institute for Nanotechnology. Local schools near MONET labs also joined, resulting in over 9,000 recipients across the U.S.
5. Scaling: Building on this momentum, MONET has partnered with Cuvette Collective's production agency to create Informal Science Communication videos, further scaling the initiative's impact.

This journey illustrates how a single innovative idea, nurtured through strategic collaborations, can evolve from a local project to a nationwide impact.

Putting It All Together: Designing Authentic Broader Impacts 🙌🏽

Here's a final critical insight for designing compelling Broader Impacts:

My step-by-step approach to designing Authentic Broader Impacts:

1. Identify the scientific expertise and research goals
2. Determine the research category using the 13-category framework
3. Consider who outside of academia would benefit most from your work
4. Map the research to potential societal outcomes in the four broader impact areas
5. Design initiatives that leverage resources to create tangible societal impact
6. Build strategic partnerships to amplify the impact

Thank you for using this framework to design impactful research. I hope the examples and resources have empowered you to approach your broader impacts with renewed clarity, authenticity, and purpose.

About Cuvette Collective:

Cuvette Collective represents a community of educators and scientists dedicated to empowering the societal impact of STEM research. We provide tailored tools, strategies, and insights to help scientists craft authentic, impactful broader impact plans that align with NSF priorities and their research focus. Our engaging blog posts, interactive resources, and personalized consulting services support researchers in leveraging their scientific expertise to make a meaningful difference in society.

How to get involved:

1️⃣ Subscribe to our blog for the latest tips and insights.

2️⃣ Apply to participate in the Broader Impacts Excellence Program.

3️⃣ Inquire about our services to enhance your broader impacts efforts.

We hope you will join our vibrant community committed to reimagining the role of science in society and maximizing the impact of research!