National Institutes of Health Biosketch and Other Support Changes take effect on May 25, 2021 and are required on January 25, 2022
As previously shared via ORPANews and presented at Coffee with ORPA, the NIH is implementing changes in the requirements/formats of Biosketches and Other Support documents. The NIH expects applicants and recipients to use the updated formats for applications, Just-in-Time (JIT), Reports and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs) as of May 25, 2021. The new formats will be required for all aforementioned submissions on or after January 25, 2022.
A summary of these changes include:
Biosketch - Applicable to all Senior/Key personnel and Other Significant Contributors
- Listing in reverse chronological order all positions and scientific appointments both domestic and foreign, including affiliations with foreign entities or governments. This includes titled academic, professional, or institutional appointments whether or not remuneration is received, and whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary (including adjunct, visiting, or honorary).
- Inclusion of ongoing and completed research projects from the past three years that you want to draw attention to (previously known as research support).
- A Fellowship Biosketch has removed the requirement for information on research support. The document now only requests scholastic performance.
Other Support - Applicable to all Senior/Key Personnel listed in an application. Also applicable to all Senior/Key Personnel listed in a progress report when there has been a change in their active other support except:
- program directors, training faculty and other individuals involved in the oversight of training grants
- those categorized as Other Significant Contributors, (those who have committed to contribute to the scientific development or execution of the project, but are not committing any specified measurable effort to the project.
- consultants (in progress reports)
Other Support includes all resources, both domestic and foreign, made available to a researcher in support of and/or related to all of their research endeavors, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value and regardless of whether they are based at the institution the researcher identifies for the current grant. This may include:
- Financial support for laboratory personnel
- High-value materials that are not freely available
- Consulting agreements when they represent a conduct of research as a part of the consulting activities
- In-kind contributions (e.g. laboratory space, equipment, students, etc.) supported by an outside source
- It does not include gifts, training awards or prizes
Other support may have a requirement for supporting documentation, which includes copies of contracts, grants or other agreements specific to senior/key personnel foreign appointments and/or employment with a foreign institution for all foreign activities and resources that are reported in Other Support. If the contracts, grants or other agreements are not in English, recipients must provide translated copies. The costs for translation cannot be considered a direct cost for the project.
The Other Support form has a specific requirement that individual researchers personally certify the accuracy of their Other Support information on the Other Support document by affixing their signature to the form.
To aid in this transition to these new formats and requirements, ORPA has added content to its website entitled, NIH Biosketch and Other Support, that includes details on these changes. We recommend you review this information and check back regularly as we expect this topic to continue to evolve in the coming months. Please feel free to reach out to your ORPA GCA should any questions arise.