- Library Hours
- (314) 362-7080
- askbecker@wustl.edu
NIH will require the use of Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) to complete the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement to produce digitally certified PDF(s) for use in application submission.
Are you preparing a biosketch for NIH funding? If so, do you need help?
Presentations or hands-on sessions for an overview of the NIH biosketch including two NCBI tools, SciENcv and My Bibliography, to auto-populate a NIH biosketch are available upon request for investigators and/or administrative staff. We also make "office-calls."
If you would like to schedule a presentation for your department, program or division, please contact Cathy Sarli or Amy Suiter.
The Office of Training Grants (OTG) has developed a Grants Library to serve as a centralized resource for investigators. Sample biosketches are available in the Standard Grant Language and Templates folder.
NOTE: WUSTL Key required for access.
1. Create a My NCBI account and link the account to your eRA Commons account.
2. Communicate with co-authors about publication decisions early.
3. Confirm that publisher policies allow you to comply with funder publication and data mandates.
4. Populate your My Bibliography and keep the publication and research products list updated.
5. Be familiar SciENcv. SciENcv will be required as of May 25, 2025 to generate a biosketch.
6. Try creating a biosketch with data from ORCID, eRA Commons and My Bibliography.
7. Assign delegates to help manage your My Bibliography and SciENcv.
Review the NIH Biosketch FAQs.
Review the instructions in the Application Guide
Confirm that the biosketch is formatted per NIH guidance. For details, see FAQ 17: What Does it Mean to be Compliant with the New Biosketch Policy? Failure to do so may result in your application being withdrawn from consideration (Reminder: NIH Policy on Application Compliance, NOT-OD-15-095). For more information on font type, font size, paper size and margins, see NIH & AHRQ Update Font Guidelines for Applications to Due Dates On or After January 25, 2017.
Confirm that your eRA Commons account is current.
Populate a My Bibliography account with citations to your journal articles and other research products.
Advice for new scientists on the contributions to science narratives is available on the NIH Biosketch FAQs:
What advice do you have for new scientists filling out their scientific contributions?
It is a little early to tell how each discipline will judge its new scientists. You might want to consult with your colleagues who serve as reviewers in your area of science. In general, reviewers base their expectations for contributions based on the seniority of the person filling out the biosketch. A scientist with one publication may want to summarize the key finding of the paper and its importance in a short contribution. Scientists with no publications may wish to provide a contribution describing their efforts on other peoples’ papers and projects (e.g., I used this method, I conducted the literature review for this paper, I care for all the animals in this lab, etc.). If a new scientist has no actual research or thesis experience, they might just want to list one contribution about their training to date.
Discuss your contributions to science narratives with:
o mentors and colleagues
o investigators who serve as members of study sections for NIH applications
o NIH Program Directors associated with the agency or institute likely to fund your research
