Common Forms
Common Forms for biographical sketch and current & pending support
Common Forms for biographical sketch and current & pending (other) support, or Common Forms, represent a collaborative effort between federal research agencies to ensure standard disclosure requirements as outlined in the National Security Presidential Memorandum – 33 (NSPM-33). Common Forms will create greater standardization across federal agencies and provide clarity regarding disclosure requirements.
For additional guidance regarding pre- and post-award disclosure requirements relating to the implementation of NSPM-33, see NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance. This guidance outlines the disclosure requirements and common disclosure forms for the biographical sketch and current & pending (other) support sections of an application for federal research and development grants or cooperative agreements.
Agency requirements
Note: On Dec. 2, 2025, NIH issued NOT-OD-26-018 announcing they are adopting the Common Forms for biosketches and other support for all funding proposals and RPPRs with due dates on or after Jan. 25, 2026.
NIH applicants and recipients must continue to use the current NIH biosketch and other support format pages for applications, just-in-time (JIT), and RPPRs. Visit NIH's Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support page for more information.
NSF began requiring submission of SciENcv-generated Common Forms for the biosketch and current & pending (other) support documents included with proposals in 2024. See Documents Required for Senior/Key Personnel for details.
For funding opportunities published on or after Jan. 1, 2026, covered individuals on DOE applications and projects will be required to generate their biographical sketch and current & pending (other) support Common Forms via the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) system.
For additional guidance on DOE’s implementation of the Common Forms, including FAQs, see Common Forms in SciENcv.
According to the USDA General Terms & Conditions for Federal Awards, effective Dec. 31, 2025, personnel who work on research awards must complete the biosketch and current & pending (other) support Common Forms at time of application and agree to update the form at least annually.
IES strongly encourages applicants to use SciENcv to complete the IES biosketch form. When using SciENcv, applicants will enter current & pending support information in the IES biosketch template. See the Request for Applications for your competition for more information about the content and formatting of biosketches.
Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv)
Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) is an application in created by the National Library of Medicine that helps researchers assemble the professional information needed for participation in federally funded research. SciENcv gathers and compiles information on expertise, employment, education and professional accomplishments. SciENcv reduces the administrative burden associated with federal grant submission and reporting requirements by leveraging data from existing systems.
Users can create multiple SciENcv profiles in official biographical sketch formats for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which can be used for grant submissions.
NIH eRA Commons, NSF and ORCID account holders who have linked their accounts to NCBI can populate their SciENcv profiles with the information stored in their eRA, NSF or ORCID accounts. SciENcv users control the content displayed in their SciENcv profiles. The information transferred to SciENcv can be changed, hidden, augmented or deleted. However, complete information must be disclosed on certified biosketch and current & pending (other) support documents.
Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID)
Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID) is a nonprofit organization providing a registry of researchers with a platform that stores professional information such as employment, education, professional activities, funding and publications. ORCID assigns a unique 16-digit persistent identifier (PID) — also known as an ORCID ID — to connect researchers with their contributions to science over time and across changes of name, location and institution affiliation.
An ORCID ID may be required for creating sponsor-approved biosketch and current & pending (other) support documents in SciENcv.
The ORCID ID benefits researchers by providing a lifelong identifier that automatically links them to their past and recent papers, avoids the confusion caused by similar last names, enhances the discoverability of their papers and simplifies creating biosketches for grant applications. For example, thousands of journals incorporate ORCID into their publications, which means that researchers can automatically see their bibliography, as recorded on their ORCID page, updated with new publications. The identifier also allows agencies like NIH to better monitor professional outcomes by tracking the progress of researchers along their career path, starting with trainees and early career scientists.