Introduction and Welcome: Building Capacity and Resources for Advancing Research Impacts in Society (ARIS)

This special issue is the result of a two-year effort to identify, pilot, and publish scholarly research about the National Science Foundation’s (NSFs) broader impacts (BI) criterion and its role in community engagement as an integral part of agency-funded research projects (NSF OIA-2140950). NSF’s BI requirements reflect its intention to support research that not only pushes the boundaries of scientific knowledge, but also makes meaningful contributions to society. Participating institutions worked to build capacity in their researchers to better develop BI projects, including those that enhanced their engagement with local communities. This issue highlights the work, outcomes, and recommendations of these institutions as they explored BI resources and frameworks for building the research impact capacity of researchers and institutions.