Funding News Edition: June 16, 2021 See more articles in this edition
Applicants and grantees, we encourage you to start using NIH’s new biographical sketch (biosketch) and other support formats and instructions for your applications, just-in-time (JIT) submissions, and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs).
The updated formats and instructions are optional now and will become a requirement on January 25, 2022. Failure to follow the appropriate formats on or after January 25, 2022, may cause NIH to withdraw applications from funding consideration.
As announced in a March 12, 2021 Guide notice, the updates are meant to support full applicant transparency and disclosure of all research activities, foreign and domestic. NIH’s April 28, 2021 Guide notice covered implementation and emphasized that it remains your responsibility to disclose all of your research endeavors, no matter which format you use.
Here’s a summary of the changes. Follow the two bold links for updated format templates, instructions, and completed samples.
- Other Support
- The format page is reorganized to separate funded projects from in-kind contributions. It also has a required signature block for principal investigators (PIs) and other key personnel to certify the accuracy of the information submitted.
- Provide supporting documentation when you report foreign activities, resources, appointments, or employment as other support. Include copies in English of contracts, grants, or any other agreement for PIs and other key personnel.
- If a grantee organization discovers that a PI or other key personnel failed to disclose other support information outside of the JIT or progress report processes, the grantee must immediately notify the NIH grants management specialist (GMS) and submit updated documentation.
- Biosketch Format
- Section B is renamed to “Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors.” Include all positions and scientific appointments, domestic and foreign, paid or unpaid, in reverse chronological order.
- Section D, “Research Support,” is removed to avoid duplication, consolidating research support information under Other Support. (Scholastic Performance remains in Section D for fellowships.)
- You may include details on any research projects you wish to highlight from the past three years in your Section A “Personal Statement.”
For more details, consult the following sections of the NIH Grants Policy Statement:
- Section 2.3.7.12 Biographical Sketches—This new subsection consolidates your biosketch requirements for easy reference.
- Section 2.5.1 Just-in-Time Procedures
Direct your general questions about the other support and biosketch templates to nihosbiosketch@nih.gov. If you have grant-specific inquiries, contact your assigned GMS.