What is biosketch?
A biographical sketch or biosketch is a document highlighting the qualifications of key personnel for a specific role in a proposed grant project. Both the NIH and the NSF require a biosketch for senior or key personnel applying for and renewing grants with each agency.
There is a mandate to use SciENcv only for the preparation of the biographical sketches that will take effect for proposals submitted or due on or after October 23, 2023. In the interim, proposers may continue to prepare and submit this document via use of SciENcv or the NSF fillable PDF. NSF, however, encourages the community to use SciENcv prior to the October 2023 implementation. You can generate these PDFs via the SciENcv tool. Please see NSF's updated memo stating this new requirement.
Important: You should consult with your research administrator(s) if you have questions about how this will affect your grant submission and deadlines.
What is SciENcv?
Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) is an electronic system that researchers can use to create and maintain biosketches that must be submitted with NIH and NSF grant applications and annual reports. SciENcv pulls information from other systems, including MyNCBI, ORCID, and eRA commons in order to ease administrative burden and allow researchers to quickly create and recreate a biosketch for each grant application or annual report.
Using ORCID to Create A SciENcv Biosketch
1. On the My NCBI main page, scroll down to find SciENcv at the bottom right. If you haven't used SciENcv before, it will be a small box that gives you a link to create a profile. If you've used it before, it will show links to biosketches you've already created. Click to create a profile or on "Manage SciENcv" and then on "Create A New Profile."
2. Click on the tab for "From an external source."
3. Fill in the form:
1. Give your biosketch a name
2. Select type of profile
3. Choose ORCID from the "external source" dropdown menu.
4. Click on "Create"
4. It will automatically pull from ORCID to populate your new biosketch. This may take a couple of minutes.
5. Scroll down to find the section on Peer-reviewed publications or References - the name of the section will be different for different Biosketch Formats
6. Click on "edit this section" or "Show/hide entries." Then click on the ORCID tab. Select the articles you want displayed in this biosketch. You will also have the option of selecting from your My Bibliography as well. Once you have checked the ones you want, click on "Done."
7. The articles you selected should then appear in Section C. You can edit what appears there using the "Show/hide entries" option.
8. The more you fill in your ORCID profile, the more you will be able to pull automatically into SciENcv when you create a biosketch.
Setting up delegate access to your SciENcv
Any My NCBI account holder can set up one or more delegates for their My NCBI account. Once a delegate has accepted their invitation, they will then have the ability to view, edit, and create profiles in the original account holder’s SciENcv, as well as editing the account holder’s My Bibliography. Your delegate must already be registered with their own My NCBI account before being added.
If you would like to send a delegate request:
1. Login to your My NCBI account
2. Select your username in the upper right corner of the screen to access your Account Settings page
3. Under "Delegates," select "Add a delegate"
4. Enter your delegate's email address and select OK.
Once your delegate has accepted your request you can now control what they have access to:
1. Login to your My NCBI account
2. Select your username in the upper right corner of the screen to access your Account Settings page
3. Use the table in the delegates section to control what your delegates have access to.
4. If you have checked the “My Bibliography” box, your delegate will have the ability to view and make changes to your My Bibliography and Other Citations collections. If you have checked the “SciENcv” box, your delegate will be able to create, view, and change your SciENcv products.
Choose delegate access options
Please note: The Public or Private settings on your My Bibliography or SciENcv have no effect on your delegate’s ability to view and make changes to these resources. Should you wish to remove a delegate, use the red “X”. Should you wish to give a delegate access to only one resource, use the appropriate check-boxes.
To access your delegator's SciENcv:
1. Login to your My NCBI account
2. If you have been granted access to your delegator’s My Bibliography and Other Citations collections, you will see those collections listed in the Collections section of your My NCBI account landing page:
Information credit: *Information credit to Stony Brook University Libraries' "Creating and Using Your ORCID Profile: Linking to NIH/NSF Biosketches" and NC State University Libraries "Using SciENcv to Create Your Biosketch" and University of Arizona Libraries "SciENcv" LibGuide