Broader Impacts (BI) plans are a critical component of any proposal submitted to the National Science Foundation to address the question of how your research will benefit society. Thoughtful and comprehensive BI activities and plans are weighted as half of the NSF proposal, along with Intellectual Merit. The University has dedicated resources to help you design BI programs for large center-level proposals and  mid-size proposals, and the individual divisions have administrative leads to aid faculty with smaller BI programs and their integration into existing outreach efforts. All of UChicago’s 140+ research centers have community outreach and education programs.

Reach out to the academic professionals in the Office of Research Development (ORD), the Office of Civic Engagement (OCE), and divisions to discuss your BI program needs.

The UChicago Research Dissemination and Communications Program (UChicago RDCP) helps faculty and members of their teams build and execute a communications strategy focused on dissemination of research. A partnership among the Office of Communications, UChicago Creative, and the Office of Research, UChicago RDCP is a valuable partner during the proposal development and post-grant award phases for projects across all disciplines. Each project is tailored to the individual project and budget.

Services may include, but are not limited to:

• Developing marketing and communications materials (websites, graphics, videos, podcasts, brochures, etc.)
• Overseeing communications launch
• Reporting on related data and metrics to effectively measure impact throughout all key stages of the project (proposal and award)

For more information, contact Melissa Sherwin, Director of Provost Communications, at melissasherwin@uchicago.edu.