Research Impacts

The NSF defines several key areas where research impacts can manifest:

1. STEM Education: Enhancing education and educator development in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at any level
   
2. Public Engagement: Improving public scientific literacy and increasing public engagement with STEM fields
   
3. Societal Well-being: Positively impacting the well-being of individuals in society
   
4. STEM Workforce: Developing a globally competitive STEM workforce
   
5. Partnerships: Strengthening partnerships between academia, industry, and other sectors
   
6. National Security: Contributing to the improvement of national security
   
7. Economic Competitiveness: Enhancing the U.S.’s economic competitiveness
   
8. Infrastructure: Building infrastructure for research and education

When planning your research impacts, avoid these common mistakes:

• Misaligned Activities: Don’t treat research impacts as an add-on disconnected from your research. Ensure they are well-integrated and align with your research goals.
  
• Lack of Audience Understanding: Know who your target audience is, whether it’s students, the general public, or another group, and tailor your activities to meet their needs.
  
• Late Partner Engagement: Reach out to partners early and allocate sufficient resources for meaningful collaboration, not just travel for student exchanges.
  
• Undervalued Partners: Avoid treating collaborators as mere "research impacts" contributors. Recognize and integrate their disciplinary expertise into the project.
  
• Isolated RI Section: Your research impacts should be seamlessly integrated into your proposal, connecting with your research objectives.
  
• Underutilized Resources: Leverage your partners' resources and expertise to create stronger, more impactful research impacts activities.

1. Do Your Homework
   Review the merit review criteria. These provide detailed examples of potential research impacts outcomes but are not meant as a checklist. Your activities should align with your research goals and have a tangible societal impact. For NSF, that is available in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies & Procedures Guide and the National Science Board’s report.
   
2. Leverage Existing Resources
   Contributing to established programs or events can strengthen your RI activities. Focus on how you can improve or expand these efforts. Our list of educational resources and examples of Research Impacts for the life sciences (available at the bottom of this page) can help you find existing initiatives that align with your research.
   
3. Build on Past Experience
   Propose activities that logically build on your previous experiences. Reviewers need to be confident that you can successfully implement what you propose, so connect your planned activities with your past work in mentoring, outreach, or public engagement.
   
4. Communicate with the Program Director
   Discuss your RI activities with your Program Director early. Alignment with their expectations can help ensure a smoother implementation and more strategic use of resources (leverage office hours listed on their website).
   
5. Review Successful Examples
   Familiarize yourself with successful RI examples (examples available upon request) to see what NSF reviewers have favored. Reaching out to colleagues or mentors for insight can be a valuable resource in shaping your own statement.

• Address Research Impacts as Integrated Statements
  Include a clear paragraph in your research proposal on the societal benefits of your work. Connect your RI experiences and future plans to your journey in science.
  
• Highlight the Impact of Your Activities
  Go beyond simply listing your RI activities. Emphasize the results—whether it’s increased participation, successful collaborations, or measurable public engagement. Showing the real-world outcomes of your efforts will set you apart.
  
• Make it Personal
  Help reviewers understand why you and your team members are committed to research impacts. Share motivations behind your efforts to give back to the research community and society, and connect research impacts to your scientific path.
  
• Get Feedback Early
  Make sure to get input from mentors or peers to ensure that your first submission is polished and compelling, especially since you only get one chance to apply for certain large grants proposals. Huck C offers a Red Team review for that, so leverage it!

SCIENCE OUTREACH PROGRAMS:

• SCIENCE-U SUMMER CAMPS: Every summer, the Eberly College of Science Outreach Office organizes 14-17 one-week science camps for youth going into grades 2-12. They work with Penn State faculty, graduate students, and community educators to design the camp curricula, which cover topics ranging from infectious diseases to ecology and forensic science, and conduct rigorous training for camp staff.
  
• ENVISION: STEM CAREER DAY FOR GIRLS: A one-day event held annually in the winter that brings together middle and high school girls for sessions filled with interactive science workshops and inspirational STEM speakers.
  
• THINK OUTSIDE THE BEAKER: An after-school program, currently sponsored by Restek, that brings students from the Bellefonte Area School District to Penn State’s University Park campus for five 75-minute interactive science sessions run by Penn State faculty and student groups on Monday afternoons.
  
• HAUNTED-U: A half-day Halloween-themed science event held every October to excite K-5 students about science through spooky demos and activities.

OTHER ACTIVITIES/PROGRAMS:

• PENNSYLVANIA 4-H THROUGH PENN STATE EXTENSION: 4-H is America’s largest youth organization. Pennsylvania has robust membership and activities in all 67 counties of the Commonwealth. 4-H works to achieve their mission of empowering young people through myriad hands-on opportunities for personal growth, leadership, and preparation for lifelong learning.
  
• CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND THE SCHOOLS (CSATS): The Penn State Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS) is a College of Education Center that facilitates partnerships between Penn State STEM entities and K-12 schools, with the goal of enhancing K-12 science education across Pennsylvania.
  
• SHAVERS’ CREEK ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER (Outdoor School): Outdoor School is a four-day, residential program for upper-elementary school students, run by Penn State’s nature center, Shaver’s Creek, and staffed by Penn State student counselors. It provides children with a positive, outdoor education experience as they learn about the natural world through hands-on lessons and guided exploration.
  
• PENN STATE OUTREACH K-12 ENGAGEMENT NETWORK: The K-12 Engagement Network reaches every school in Pennsylvania — public, private, and charter — to share opportunities at Penn State for administrators, educators, and students and information on how schools can take advantage of the many resources that support our public land grant mission. Educator opportunities and youth opportunities are available.
  
• AMERICAN CAMP ASSOCIATION CAMPS ON CAMPUS: a unique group of camps and professionals who run and operate youth programs on college and university campuses and K-12 independent school auxiliary programs.

• NASA PA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM RESEARCH INTERNSHIP PROGRAM (including WISER and MURE): The NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium (PSGC) PSU Undergraduate Research Internship Program is an annual research-focused program for students attending Penn State – University Park supported by the PSGC. The program offers first-year students a two-semester (spring and fall semesters of one calendar year) faculty mentored internship in a research laboratory at Penn State-UP. During the internship experience, students have the opportunity to collaborate with a research team, learn the language of research, and conduct experiments. Mentored by a faculty member, students are engaged in research activities that may include attending lab meetings, collecting and analyzing data, and working on high-tech instrumentation and software. Student interns also often work closely with graduate students and lab managers to collect data for their project and present their results at the annual WMF research symposium.
  
• SUSTAINABLE PHYSICS REU: REU students will do research in their preferred research discipline within physics or with the Center for Nanoscale Science. As part of the program students will have professional development training in science communication, attend research seminars and learn about how physics research interacts with sustainability issues (carbon-footprint, chemical waste, power usage, education- outreach, or the social/environmental side of large-scale observatories)
  
• MILLENNIUM SCHOLARS PROGRAM: Scholars are required to participate in Penn State research labs during the academic year as well as Summer Research Experience opportunities or internships on and off of Penn State’s campus. Millennium Scholars provide advice and contacts to help scholars obtain summer internships and opportunities to work in research laboratories on campus during each academic year. Scholars are required to complete a research thesis, which helps to prepare them for graduate school and future research.
  
• SHAVERS’ CREEK ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER (SEED Semester): full-semester experiential journey of outdoor leadership and environmental interpretation courses.
  
• SUMMER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM (SROP): The Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) is an eight-week research program designed to interest talented undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in academic careers and to enhance their preparation for graduate study through intensive research experiences with faculty mentors. In addition to the research experience, the program includes professional development workshops, seminars, field trips, and social activities.
  
• RONALD E. MCNAIR POST BACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM: The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program (also known as the McNair Scholars Program) is one of 187 such programs nationwide. First established in 1989 and named after Dr. Ronald E. McNair, this program is designed to help academically talented students from traditionally underserved backgrounds reach their potential by earning a doctoral degree. The program works closely to help students prepare for doctoral study through involvement in research and scholarly activities. The purpose of the McNair Program is to assist in the academic and professional development of undergraduates whose goals are to teach and research at the college level. In order to help students achieve those goals, the program sponsors and supports undergraduate experiences that lay the foundation for a successful graduate school experience. By fostering mentoring relationships, promoting undergraduate research, assisting with GRE preparation, and encouraging students to attend and present at conferences, they aim to produce highly competitive graduate school applicants who have the skills and experiences necessary to succeed in their programs. The McNair Scholars Program is a TRiO program funded through the U.S. Department of Education and The Pennsylvania State University.
  
  
• PENN STATE NITTANY AI ALLIANCE: a Penn State Outreach initiative creating programs that bring together students, faculty, staff, and industry leaders to address real-world problems through experiential learning projects using artificial intelligence–based solutions.

• SHAVER'S CREEK ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER (Grad Student Opportunities): GAs work closely with a Shaver’s Creek program director to gain experience in, and contribute to, teaching, research, and outreach programming. Depending on the position, GAs may assist with their AURORA first-year student orientation programs, environmental interpretation courses, adventure and leadership courses, or the SEED Semester; or with Shaver’s Creek’s noncredit community programs like their plant science programs or the Maple Harvest Festival.
  
• HUCK LIFE SCIENCES SYMPOSIUM: The Huck Life Sciences Symposium is an annual event, usually held in May, hosted by Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. It serves as a platform to showcase and discuss advancements in life sciences research. Key features: Research presentations, networking opportunities, panel discussions and workshops, poster sessions, and exhibitions and sponsor displays.
  
• THE PENN STATE FOX GRADUATE OPEN HOUSE: The Penn State Fox Graduate Open House is a chance for prospective students to explore the school’s graduate programs usually held in fall/October. Key features: Program information sessions, networking opportunities, campus tour, admissions and financial aid, panel discussions, and interactive workshops.

• EXPLORATION-U: Exploration-U events are 2-3 hour community science night events that are held at area schools and feature tables where STEM groups from Penn State and the community engage families through interactive science activities. The main school district partners for Exploration-U are State College, Bellefonte, and Bald Eagle.
  
• OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE: OLLI at Penn State’s mission is to provide educational, social, travel, and volunteer experiences for mature adults to enhance and enrich their lives.
  
• LION MOBILE CLINIC: Increasing access to health care and helping the community make proactive choices leads to better long-term health, cost savings and less of a strain on the health system.
  
• THE CHEER PROGRAM: A partnership between the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at Penn State, promotes community-engaged research (CEnR) across all Penn State campuses, spanning many disciplines, with the overall goal of enhancing wellness and reducing health disparities. It is the landing place for faculty who seek to engage communities in their research and for community organizations and members to engage with Penn State expertise. 
  
• RESEARCH RECRUITMENT TOOLKIT: This online toolkit is available to researchers and research teams throughout the University, with some specific guidance for College of Medicine research teams, as their recruitment efforts may utilize Penn State Health systems and channels, in addition to others. The Research Recruitment Toolkit provides background and best practices for human subjects recruitment efforts, as well as tools and templates that may be used at Penn State to support research teams' efforts to achieve their study recruitment goals. Additional tools and templates will be added to the site in the future.
  
• PSU INTER-INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAM FOR DRIVING RESEARCH (IPDR): Interdisciplinary seed grant program aimed at developing new or leveraging existent strategic partnerships and alliances with external Institutions. The goal of the IPDR is to perform collaborative work that advances research development capability as well as student and faculty training needed to support such research collaborations.

• SCIENTIFIC FILM-MAKING: Partner with creators such as with filmmaker Neil Losin, Academic Affiliate of Biology, who has great experience in contributing to NSF-funded research impacts partnerships. More information is available at his personal website.
  
• THE ARBORETUM AT PENN STATE: Offers programs/resources such as The Spring Creek Watershed Atlas, a public outreach and educational services of The Spring Creek Watershed Commission, the Avian Education Program, a program designed to increase awareness and appreciation of birds and promote conservation and creation of bird-friendly habitat. The program sponsors bird walks, bird banding surveys, lectures, workshops, and a summer internship.
  
• PENN STATE COMMUNITY IMPACT MAP: a public-facing, interactive map that showcases Penn State’s many outreach and community engagement activities across Pennsylvania.
  
• PENN STATE EXTENSION: Penn State Extension is a modern educational organization dedicated to delivering science-based information to people, businesses, and communities. They provide access to face-to-face and online education to our customers—when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it—to help them address problems and take advantage of opportunities for improvement and innovation. Partnering with and funded by federal, state, and county governments, Penn State Extension has a long tradition of bringing unbiased support and education to the citizens of Pennsylvania. They make a difference locally through focused engagement, and more widely to customers connecting in the digital landscape.
  
• SCHOLARSPHERE: ScholarSphere is an institutional repository managed by Penn State University Libraries. Anyone with a Penn State Access ID can deposit materials relating to the University’s teaching, learning, and research mission to ScholarSphere. All types of scholarly materials, including publications, instructional materials, creative works, and research data are accepted.
  
• NORTHEAST WOODY/WARM-SEASON BIOMASS CONSORTIUM (NEWBIO): A regional network of universities, businesses, and governmental organizations dedicated to building robust, scalable, and sustainable value chains for energy and bioproducts based on biomass. NEWBio focuses on feedstock produced from the perennials shrub willow, miscanthus and switchgrass, and annual crops produced with a low net greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint and that enhance ecosystem services.
  
• MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES: You may not think of museums and galleries as places to leverage for your life science education, training, and outreach, but they can be significant sources of knowledge and provide innovative approaches to your Research Impacts/Education section(s).
  
• SCI-ART AT HUCK INSTITUTES: Reach out to our SciArt Director, Daryl Branford, for an initial consultation on how to incorporate art into your scientific projects.

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SSRI) CENTERS:

• POPULATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE (PRI): PRI is an NIH-funded center that provides tremendous support to population researchers. SSRI also supports some analytic methodology groups. Quantitative Developmental Systems Methodology Core (QuantDev), as an example, works at the cutting edge of methodology development and can consult and collaborate with faculty across Penn State campuses and departments to support researchers using quantitative methods in social and behavioral sciences.
  
  
• SURVEY RESEARCH CENTER (SRC): SRC supports a lot of primary data collection including surveys, focus groups, and interviews. They also support mobile data collection (or EMA) through the TRACE program. If a faculty member wants to carry out a survey study, SRC has the expertise they need.
  
  
• FEDERAL STATISTICAL RESEARCH DATA CENTER (RDC): RDC provides researchers access to an amazing pool of data from federal agencies.
  
  
• EVIDENCE TO IMPACT COLLABORATIVE (EIC): EIC is a research center and information hub for the science of using social science – they aim to improve the data, methods, and processes related to research, the dissemination of evidence, and to understand the impacts of the use of research evidence on societal well-being. EIC leverages their expertise in administrative data, program evaluation, and researcher-policymaker relationships for social investment optimization.

• PENN STATE OUTREACH K-12 ENGAGEMENT NETWORK: The K-12 Engagement Network reaches every school in Pennsylvania — public, private, and charter — to share opportunities at Penn State for administrators, educators, and students and information on how schools can take advantage of the many resources that support our public land grant mission. Educator opportunities and youth opportunities are available.
  
• INTERDISCIPLINARY MATERIALS RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR TEACHERS (RET) PROGRAM AT PENN STATE: The goal of the RET program at Penn State is to provide opportunities for the participating STEM teachers to engage in hands-on research projects with faculty mentors in Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, and Nanotechnology. Teachers with expertise in engineering, technology, science and math, as well as pre-service teachers, with broad interests across disciplines are eligible and encouraged to apply.