RCN: Broader Impacts and Outreach Network for Institutional Collaboration (BIONIC)

该项目支持更广泛的影响和机构合作外联网络(BIONIC)，这是一个更广泛影响的国家研究协调网络，以支持协助研究人员设计、实施和评估NSF提案和奖项的更广泛影响活动的专业人员。所有NSF提案的评估不仅基于拟议研究的智力价值，还包括拟议工作的更广泛影响，如社会相关性、教育推广和社区参与。许多机构已经开始雇用更广泛的影响支助专业人员，但在大多数情况下，这些个人并没有作为一个团队来确定和分享最佳做法。其结果是，出现了大量重复工作。通过协调，仿生学有望提高效率，减少冗余，并在以下几个领域产生重大影响：1)研究人员将受益于对更广泛的影响价值审查标准的更多了解，以及更多能够帮助他们设计、实施和评估其更广泛影响活动的合作者；2)机构和研究中心将通过指导更广泛的影响专业人员和咨询如何建立更广泛的影响支持基础设施来提高其支持更广泛影响的能力，注意纳入非研究密集型大学、历史上的黑人学院和大学，以及可能没有资源支持更广泛的机构影响办公室的西班牙裔和少数族裔服务机构；3)NSF本身将受益于对更广泛的影响采取系统和一致的方法，这将导致研究人员更好地履行更广泛的影响标准，审查员和项目官员对更广泛的影响活动进行更好的评估，以及国会和国家科学委员会授权的评估更广泛的影响活动总体有效性的系统。通过其许多有计划的活动，仿生最终将有助于推进更广泛的影响价值审查标准旨在实现的社会目标。该项目的主要目标将通过四个具体目标来实现：1)为更广泛的影响社区确定和策划有前途的模式、实践和评估方法；2)通过对当前和未来的教职员工和研究人员进行有效实践方面的教育，扩大参与和支持高质量的更广泛的影响活动的发展；3)开发为更广泛的影响社区的持续增长和增加多样性所必需的人力资源；以及4)促进跨机构合作和传播更广泛的影响计划、实践、模型、材料和资源。Bionic将促进跨机构的协作和更广泛的影响工作，帮助利用以前开发的资源，支持专业发展，并培训新同事进入更广泛的影响领域。该项目将提高更广泛的影响投资的质量和可持续性，因为研究人员继续创建独特和有效的活动，这些活动得到策划和广泛传播。Bionic将创建一个网络，旨在帮助NSF资助的研究人员在其机构实现更广泛的影响审查标准的目标。通过这样做，仿生学将促进地方、国家和国际上更广泛的影响活动，并帮助推进更广泛的影响领域。该奖项由生物科学局的分子和细胞生物科学部和新兴前沿部门以及数学和物理科学局的化学部共同资助。

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.