For GRFP applicants who need stronger Broader Impacts
NSF GRFP Broader Impacts Builder
A Broader Impacts section for your GRFP statements, drafted from the outreach, mentoring and teaching you've done, with each activity matched to an NSF outcome.
Free to start. No card needed.
How to write NSF GRFP Broader Impacts yourself
The GRFP solicitation, NSF 26-5261, asks reviewers to give "balanced consideration" to every part of an application, including your "leadership, outreach, service activities, and future plans". So start with what you have already done, and pin each activity down: your role, who took part and how many, how long it ran, and what changed. MIT's Communication Lab tells you to quantify your experience or impact2. "I tutored chemistry" is a claim. "I led weekly sessions for 15 chemistry students over three semesters" is evidence.
Then make your plans believable. NSF's page on broader impacts3, written for grant proposals, asks whether a plan is "well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on sound rationale" and has "a mechanism to assess success". A plan reads as real when it grows from what you already do, like the tutor who will start a study group in graduate school. Name who, where, which partner, how often and how you'll know it worked, such as a count of students who return.
Each statement needs its own section headed exactly "Broader Impacts", kept apart from "Intellectual Merit" by a line break, with no other words in either heading (NSF 26-5261). In the personal statement, it covers what you have done and plan to do. In the research plan, it covers who the project's results could help and how you will share them. Keep the evidence on the page, because NSF's applicant FAQ4 says reviewers judge "only the evidence provided within the application", not what sits behind a link.
NSF's 2026–27 wording
GRFP Broader Impacts examples for each NSF outcome
Reviewers weigh "the likelihood that the applicant's activities will" reach outcomes like these, quoted from NSF 26-5261. NSF says the list isn't exhaustive, and you don't need all ten: match each activity to the one or two it fits best. The examples are illustrative.
| NSF's outcome | What it can look like | Evidence to give |
|---|---|---|
| Increase participation in STEM | A weekend coding club you started at the public library, open to any teenager | How many came, how many kept coming, and what some went on to do |
| Improve STEM education in schools through outreach and mentoring | Monthly lab demos in a middle school's science classes, planned with the teacher | Visits, classes and students reached, and what the teacher saw change |
| Increase public scientific literacy and public engagement with STEM through community outreach | A monthly science talk at a café or library, or a plain-language blog about your field | How often, how many listeners or readers, and the questions they asked |
| Increase collaboration among academia, industry, and other types of organizations | An internship that turned into a shared project between your lab and a company or agency | The partner, your part in the link, and what each side gained |
| Improve education and educator development – at any level – in STEM | Peer mentoring in an intro lab, leading review sessions or training new TAs | Students per term, how many terms, and something that lasted, such as a guide others use |
| Improve the well-being of individuals in society | Testing household well water with a county extension office and explaining results to owners | Homes tested, and what owners did with what they learned |
| Develop a globally competitive STEM workforce | Training undergraduates in your lab's methods, or teaching a Python or mapping workshop | People trained, what they can now do, and where they used it |
| Improve national security | Research with a direct security use, such as finding flaws in widely used software | The specific use and who would act on it, stated without overclaiming |
| Increase the economic competitiveness of the U.S. | A method or prototype a company could adopt, or an invention you disclosed to your university | Who could use it and what it would change, in plain terms |
| Enhance infrastructure for research and education | Open-source code, a public dataset or a shared protocol that other labs now use | Users, downloads or labs, and who keeps it maintained |
Outcomes quoted from NSF 26-5261, the 2026–27 solicitation, checked October 29, 2026. Applications for that cycle were due October 19 to 23, 2026, depending on field, and NSF expects to announce results by early April 2027. Next year's solicitation isn't out yet (this one was posted August 25, 2026), so check the list again when it appears.
How it works
How does River turn your activities into Broader Impacts?
Start with whatever you have: rough notes on your mentoring, teaching, outreach and service, or your CV. River reads it all first and lists every real activity, including any tool or dataset you built that others use. It then builds a table matching each activity to the NSF outcome it fits best, quoted word for word. The table says what each one is still missing, and a line below names your strongest and why.
Next, River drafts the section, headed "Broader Impacts": about 300 to 450 words for the personal statement, a paragraph of 120 to 180 for the research plan, or both. In the personal statement, your strongest activity leads and one or two plans grow out of your past work. River never invents an activity, partner, school or number, so gaps become [bracketed slots]. Each sentence River writes carries a comment asking you to rewrite it in your voice.
When the draft is ready, River can add the section to your personal statement and say what to cut so it fits three pages. It can also review the section the way a panelist would. To draft the full statements, use the personal statement writer or the research proposal writer, and compare yours with these winning GRFP examples. The 2026–27 deadlines have passed, so if you plan to apply next cycle, start logging this year's activities now: they become next year's evidence.
How it works
From activity list to Broader Impacts
Paste your activities
Paste mentoring, teaching, outreach and service in any form, or drop your CV, and pick a statement if you like.
River maps each one
A table ties each activity to the NSF outcome it fits, in NSF's words, and lists what's missing.
Get your section
A Broader Impacts section for your personal statement, research plan or both, with every new line marked.
Fill the gaps
Add the numbers and partners River bracketed, rewrite its marked lines, then ask for a panel-style review.
- 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.
What lands in your doc
What's in your Broader Impacts doc
- A table pairing each activity with the NSF outcome it best fits, quoted in NSF's exact words
- What each activity still needs, such as your role, how many people, how long and what changed
- A personal statement section of about 300 to 450 words, strongest activity first, under NSF's heading
- For the research plan, a paragraph on who the project could benefit and how you'll share it
- One or two future plans grown from past work: who, where, which partner, how often, how measured
- Brackets wherever a fact is missing, a comment on each new sentence, and a final list of gaps
Questions GRFP applicants ask
Common questions
What does Broader Impacts mean for the NSF GRFP?
Broader Impacts is one of NSF's two review criteria, alongside Intellectual Merit. NSF 26-5261, the 2026–27 GRFP solicitation, says it "encompasses the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes". Both criteria get "full consideration", and NSF calls each one necessary but not enough on its own. Your personal statement and research plan each need a section headed exactly "Broader Impacts".
What are good Broader Impacts examples for the GRFP?
Good GRFP Broader Impacts examples are specific and sustained, like two years mentoring students in a lab or a public dataset other labs now use. For each, give your role, who benefited, how many and what changed. The table above gives one for each of NSF's ten outcomes. NSF's applicant FAQ4 says it doesn't provide past applications, but many winners post their own. Start with these winning GRFP examples.
How long should GRFP Broader Impacts be?
NSF sets no length for the Broader Impacts section, only for each whole statement: three pages for the personal statement and two for the research plan. MIT's Communication Lab2 advises weaving Broader Impacts through your experiences as well as giving it its own section. As a starting point, River drafts about 300 to 450 words for the personal statement and 120 to 180 for the research plan.
Can I still write about outreach to a specific community?
Yes. Describe each past activity accurately: who it served, your role and what changed. Keep any personal background that connects to your goals. NSF's 2026–27 outcome list names no specific groups, so River drafts new plans open to everyone who wants to take part. It never asks you to remove your background, and the final wording is yours.
Is it OK to use AI for my Broader Impacts?
The GRFP rules in NSF 26-526 don't forbid using AI, but you certify that both statements are your "own original work". NSF's notice on generative AI5 also holds proposers responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of AI-assisted content. River works only from activities you list, marks each sentence it drafts and brackets every missing fact, so you can see what to rewrite in your own words.
How do I write my Broader Impacts with River?
Paste your activities into the box at the top of this page, or drop your CV, and choose a statement if you like. River matches each activity to an NSF outcome, notes what's missing and drafts the section into your free River workspace. Fill in the brackets, rewrite the marked lines in your voice, then run the mock review on both statements.
Is the NSF GRFP Broader Impacts Builder free?
Yes, it is free to start. Your Broader Impacts doc opens in a River workspace, where you can edit it, share it or ask River to change it. River's privacy policy says your documents and drafts are not used to train AI models. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
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