For GRFP applicants who need stronger Broader Impacts
NSF GRFP Broader Impacts Builder
Paste your outreach, mentoring and teaching, or drop your CV. Get each activity tied to an NSF outcome, then a specific Broader Impacts section.
Free to start. No card needed.
- Example activity · NSF outcomePeer mentor, first-year geology lab, three semestersServes "Improve education and educator development – at any level – in STEM". Missing: how many students, and what changed for them.
- Example future plan · draftRock kits for [partner school] classrooms, each semesterGrows from your Saturdays at the science museum. Still open: [how you would know it worked].
What you'll get
Your real outreach and mentoring, turned into Broader Impacts
- A table tying each activity to the NSF outcome it serves, with what is missing
- A Broader Impacts section for your personal statement, research plan or both
- One or two future plans that grow from what you have done: who, where, how often
Before and after
Your activities in. Broader Impacts out.
Saturdays at the county science museum's rock and fossil table since 2024. Peer mentor for the first-year geology lab, 3 semesters. Helped at a high school field day once.
Peer mentor, first-year geology lab NSF outcome: "Improve education and educator development – at any level – in STEM". Missing: how many students, and what changed for them. Broader Impacts For three semesters I mentored [number] first-year students in the introductory geology lab. Since 2024 I have spent Saturdays at the rock and fossil table of the county science museum, where I [what you do there]. In graduate school, I will build on that work with [partner school] by [one specific plan, with how often].
Outcomes in quotation marks are NSF's own words. River's lines carry a comment, and brackets mark facts only you can fill in.
Why it works
What counts as Broader Impacts for the NSF GRFP?
Broader Impacts is the second of NSF's two review criteria. The GRFP solicitation defines it as "the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes" and says "each criterion is necessary but neither, by itself, is sufficient" (NSF 26-526). River's Broader Impacts builder starts from the mentoring, teaching, outreach and service you already do. It ties each activity to one of the ten outcomes NSF lists, then drafts the section for your personal statement, research plan or both.
Activities count when they are likely to "Increase participation in STEM", "Improve STEM education in schools through outreach and mentoring" or "Increase public scientific literacy and public engagement with STEM through community outreach." The list also includes "Improve education and educator development – at any level – in STEM", "Improve the well-being of individuals in society" and "Increase collaboration among academia, industry, and other types of organizations." The last four are "Develop a globally competitive STEM workforce", "Improve national security", "Increase the economic competitiveness of the U.S." and "Enhance infrastructure for research and education."
This is the 2026–27 wording, and the solicitation lists these outcomes without naming specific groups. River quotes them exactly and describes each past activity as it actually was. For new plans, it proposes activities open to everyone who wants to take part. Missing partners, schools and numbers become [bracketed slots], never guesses. Then carry the section into a full draft with the personal statement writer or the research proposal writer, and compare it with winning GRFP examples.
What lands in your doc
What's in your Broader Impacts doc
- A table with each activity, the NSF outcome it serves in NSF's exact words, and your evidence
- What each activity is missing: your role, how many people, how long, and what changed
- A Broader Impacts section for your personal statement, research plan or both, under NSF's heading
- Past activities made specific using only your facts, with brackets wherever a number is missing
- One or two future plans naming who, where, a partner, how often and how to measure it
- For the research plan, one paragraph on who the project could benefit and how you will share it
How it works
From activity list to Broader Impacts
Paste your activities
Paste tutoring, mentoring, teaching, outreach and service in any form, or drop your CV instead.
Pick a statement
Optionally tap personal statement, research plan or both, so the section fits where it will go.
See the mapping
A table ties each activity to an NSF outcome and lists what is missing from each one.
Fill the gaps
Add the numbers and partners River bracketed, rewrite its marked lines, then move the section into place.
How to write GRFP Broader Impacts yourself
Start with what you have already done, and count it. For each activity, write down your role, who took part, how many people, for how long, and what changed because of it. "I tutored chemistry" is a claim. "I led weekly chemistry sessions for [number] students over three semesters" is evidence a reviewer can rate. NSF gives both criteria full consideration, so Broader Impacts deserves the same detail as your research. A small activity you kept up for years can say more than one large event.
Next, make your future plans believable. A plan reads as real when it grows from something you already do: the tutor who will run a study group in graduate school, or the museum volunteer who will build a classroom kit with a local school. Give each plan a who, a where, a partner, a schedule and a way to tell whether it worked, such as a short survey or a count of returning students. "I will do outreach" gives a reviewer nothing to rate.
Both statements need their own section under the exact heading "Broader Impacts", kept separate from "Intellectual Merit" with a line break between them. In the personal statement, the section is about you: what you have done and will do. In the research plan, it is about the project: who its results could benefit and how you will share them. Before you submit, run the mock review to see how a panelist would read both sections.
Questions GRFP applicants ask
Common questions
What does Broader Impacts mean for the NSF GRFP?
It is NSF's second review criterion: your potential to benefit society and help reach outcomes NSF names, such as increasing participation in STEM or improving STEM education through outreach and mentoring. NSF gives it and Intellectual Merit "full consideration" and calls each one necessary. Your personal statement and your research plan both need a section under the exact heading "Broader Impacts".
What are good Broader Impacts examples for the GRFP?
Good ones are specific and sustained: mentoring students in a lab for two years, teaching a weekly class at a library, or building a public dataset others now use. Each names your role, who benefited, how many and what changed. To see whole statements, read these winning GRFP examples. River drafts only from your activities, never from sample ones.
Does Broader Impacts go in both statements?
Yes. NSF requires a "Broader Impacts" section, separate from "Intellectual Merit" and under that exact heading, in both the personal statement and the research plan. In the personal statement it covers what you have done and will do. In the research plan it covers how this project could benefit society and how you will share it. Tap "Both" to get both versions.
Should I still describe outreach for a specific group?
Yes, accurately. Describe each past activity as it was, including who it served, your role and what changed, and keep personal background that connects to your goals. River never tells you to erase either. NSF's 2026–27 outcome list does not name specific groups, so River drafts new plans open to everyone who wants to take part. You decide the final wording.
Is it OK to use AI for my Broader Impacts?
The GRFP solicitation has no rule on using AI, but you certify that both statements are "their own original work," and NSF's notice on generative AI holds proposers responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of AI-assisted content. River works only from activities you list, marks every line it drafts, and leaves brackets where a fact is missing, so the finished words are yours.
Who can see the activities I paste?
Only you, unless you share them. Your notes, CV and draft stay in your private River workspace, where you can edit or delete them. River's privacy policy says your content is not used to train AI models, and River's agreements with its AI providers bar them from training on it. The same goes for any file you drop.
Your next step
More for your GRFP application
Turn what you already do into Broader Impacts
Paste your activities or drop your CV. River ties each one to NSF's words and marks every line it adds.