2025 Federal Administration Transition Information & Resources - This will be updated as new information is available.

Stanford
Office of Research Administration

Biosketches

Most sponsors require investigators and project senior/key personnel to provide a curriculum vitae (CV) or biographical sketch as part of a proposal. Many sponsors request biosketches in the format specified by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), or a variant of one of these.  It is highly important to always closely review and adhere to each sponsor’s specific CV/biosketch requirements when preparing these documents.  Moreover, many federal research agencies are now or moving towards requiring investigators to certify the information included in their biosketches is accurate, complete, and adheres to given sponsor's requirements.

SciENcv

  • SciENcv is an application developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) to help researchers create and maintain Biographical Sketches and Current and Pending (Other) Support forms.  SciENcv is currently required to be used for the preparation of NSF, DoE and USDA Biosketches and Current & Pending (Other) Support, and will be required for NIH Biosketches effective January 25, 2026 (see below for more information)

NIH Biosketch

NIH Disclosures - Stanford Guidance

NIH has announced through guide notice NOT-OD-26-018 the requirement to use the SciENcv NIH Common Forms and the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement for application due dates and Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) submissions on or after January 25, 2026. 

With Commons forms implementation, the NIH requires all Senior/Key Personnel to link their ORCID iD into SciENcv to complete Common Forms and the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement* to produce digitally certified PDFs for use in application submission. 

  • Significant Biosketch Changes:
    • Two Forms (SciENcv will combine the two forms into one PDF document when investigators download and certify from SciENcv):
      1. Biographical Sketch Common Form (Professional Preparation, Appointment and Positions, Products)
        • Up to 10 products total will be allowed on the NIH Common Form, categorized into two subsections:
          • Up to 5 products most closely related to the proposed project (aligns with products formerly in Personal Statement).
          • Up to 5 Other Significant Products (aligns with products formerly in Contributions to Science).
          • Narrative text will be captures in the Biographical Sketch Supplement*.
      2. *NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement (Personal Statement, Contributions to Science, and Honors)
        • Personal Statement - 3,500 character limit
        • Contributions to Science - up to 5 entries, each no more than 2,000 characters
        • Honors - 15 entries max

  • Reminder: Until the Common Forms are fully adopted by NIH, NIH requests applicants and recipients use the current NIH Biosketch and Other Support formats for applications, Just-in-Time (JIT) Reports, and RPPRs.

NSF Biosketch

NSF Disclosures - Stanford Guidance 

  • The NSF requires a biographical sketch for each individual identified as senior/key personnel. See PAPPG Chapter II.D.2.h(i) for complete coverage on the content and formatting requirements for the biographical sketch.
  • The NSF mandates the use of the common disclosure form for the Biographical Sketch that is exclusively available in SciENcv.
  • Each senior/key person is required to complete certifications regarding the information provided in their Biographical Sketch when they download the form from SciENcv.  Certification of disclosure documents must be completed by each senior/key person from their own SciENcv account and may NEVER be delegated.
  • Note: With the May 2024 implementation of the common forms, the Synergistic Activities section has been removed from the biographical sketch and must now be submitted as a separate senior/key personnel document.

Additional NSF Biosketch Resources

DoD Key Personnel Disclosures

DoD Disclosures - Stanford Guidance

DoE Key Personnel Disclosures

DoE Disclosures - Stanford Guidance

NASA Key Personnel Disclosures

NASA Disclosures - Stanford Guidance

Need further assistance? Have questions and/or feedback? Please submit questions and/or feedback here, and a member of the ORA-RMG Disclosures Team will respond to you shortly.