Award Abstract # 1408736
RCN: Broader Impacts and Outreach Network for Institutional Collaboration (BIONIC)

NSF Org: MCB
Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SYSTEM
Initial Amendment Date: August 1, 2014
Latest Amendment Date: August 16, 2017
Award Number: 1408736
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Karen Cone
kccone@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4967
MCB
 Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
BIO
 Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date: August 1, 2014
End Date: July 31, 2020 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $499,581.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $599,172.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2014 = $209,166.00
FY 2015 = $93,665.00

FY 2017 = $296,341.00
History of Investigator:
  • Susan Renoe (Principal Investigator)
    renoes@missouri.edu
  • Diane Rover (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Kevin Niemi (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Kemi Jona (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Jane Horwitz (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Missouri-Columbia
121 UNIVERSITY HALL
COLUMBIA
MO  US  65211-3020
(573)882-7560
Sponsor Congressional District: 03
Primary Place of Performance: University of Missouri-Columbia
202 Jesse Hall
Columbia
MO  US  65211-1230
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
03
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): SZPJL5ZRCLF4
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Genetic Mechanisms,
CHEMISTRY PROJECTS,
Cross-BIO Activities
Primary Program Source: 01001516DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01001718DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 8007, 1991, 1664, 1228, 7275, 1112
Program Element Code(s): 111200, 199100, 727500
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.074

ABSTRACT

This project supports the Broader Impacts and Outreach Network for Institutional Collaboration (BIONIC), a national Research Coordination Network of Broader Impacts to support professionals who assist researchers to design, implement, and evaluate the Broader Impacts activities for NSF proposals and awards. All NSF proposals are evaluated not only on the Intellectual Merit of the proposed research, but also on the Broader Impacts of the proposed work, such as societal relevance, educational outreach, and community engagement. Many institutions have begun employing Broader Impacts support professionals, but in most cases, these individuals have not worked as a group to identify and share best practices. As a consequence, there has been much duplication of effort. Through coordination, BIONIC is expected to improve efficiency, reduce redundancy, and have significant impact in several areas: 1) Researchers will benefit from an increased understanding of the Broader Impacts merit review criterion and increased access to collaborators who can help them design, implement, and evaluate their Broader Impacts activities; 2) Institutions and research centers will increase their capacity to support Broader Impacts via mentoring for Broader Impacts professionals and consulting on how to build Broader Impacts support infrastructure, with attention to inclusion of non-research-intensive universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic- and Minority-Serving Institutions that may not have the resources to support an institutional Broader Impacts office; and 3) NSF, itself, will benefit from a systematic and consistent approach to Broader Impacts that will lead to better fulfillment of the Broader Impacts criterion by researchers, better evaluation of Broader Impacts activities by reviewers and program officers, and a system for evaluating the effectiveness of Broader Impacts activities in the aggregate, as mandated by Congress and the National Science Board. Through its many planned activities, BIONIC will ultimately help advance the societal aims that the Broader Impacts merit review criterion was meant to achieve.

The main goals of the project will be accomplished through the four specific objectives: 1) Identify and curate promising models, practices, and evaluation methods for the Broader Impacts community; 2) Expand engagement in, and support the development of, high-quality Broader Impacts activities by educating current and future faculty and researchers on effective practices; 3) Develop the human resources necessary for sustained growth and increased diversity of the Broader Impacts community; and 4) Promote cross-institutional collaboration and dissemination for Broader Impacts programs, practices, models, materials, and resources. BIONIC will facilitate collaborative Broader Impacts work across institutions, help leverage previously developed resources, support professional development, and train new colleagues to enter into the Broader Impacts field. This project will improve the quality and sustainability of Broader Impacts investments, as researchers continue to create unique and effective activities that are curated and broadly disseminated. BIONIC will create a network designed to assist NSF-funded researchers at their institutions in achieving the goals of the Broader Impacts Review Criterion. In so doing, BIONIC will promote Broader Impacts activities locally, nationally, and internationally and help to advance the Broader Impacts field.

This award is co-funded by the Divisions of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and Emerging Frontiers in the Directorate for Biological Sciences and by the Division of Chemistry in the Directorate for Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

Note:  When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

Adetunji and Renoe "Assessing Broader Impacts" MRS Advances , 2017 , p.1681 10.1557/adv.2017.136
Coombe, Phipps, and Weintraub "Exploring International Perspectives on Research Impact" NCURA Magazine , 2018 , p.13
David Coombe, David Phipps, and Jory Weintraub "Impacts without Borders: Exploring International Perspectives on Research Impact" NCURA Magazine , v.Jan/Feb , 2018 , p.12
Julie Risien, Martin Storksdieck "Unveiling Impact Identities: A Path for Connecting Science and Society" Integrative and Comparative Biology , 2018 , p.https://d
Risien and Storksdieck "Unveiling Impact Identities: A Path for Connecting Science and Society" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.58 , 2018 , p.58 10.1093/icb/icy011

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

This project supported the creation of the National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI), a Research Coordination Network and community of practice that fostered the development of sustainable and scalable institutional capacity and engagement in broader impacts (BI) activity. This was accomplished through the following objectives: 1) Identifying and curating promising models, practices, and evaluation methods for the BI community; 2) Supporting the development of high-quality BI activities and training current and future researchers and BI professionals on effective BI practices; 3) Developing the human resources necessary for sustained growth and increased diversity of the BI community; and 4) Promoting cross-institutional collaboration on, and dissemination of BI programs, practices, models, materials, and resources. NABI fostered a sense of professional identity and affirmation for BI practitioners, and contributed to the  legitimacy of the growing broader impacts profession. Over the course of the project, membership in NABI grew from 137 to 925 members by the end of the project. Members found NABI to be an inclusive community welcoming to all BI practitioners from different backgrounds and experience levels, and more than 90% of members found the community to be valuable in their work. Importantly, while 34% of NABI members reported the available resources for BI were ‘adequate’ or ‘excellent’ before they participated in NABI, that number increased to 89% after participation in the network.  During the project, NABI hosted six Broader Impacts Summits and conducted more 151 trainings and workshops that were attended by 7,965 participants.


Last Modified: 11/20/2020
Modified by: Susan D Renoe

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.

Print this page

Back to Top of page