NIH requires Science CV for common biographical forms; Jan. 25 and May 8 rollout dates set

The National Institutes of Health now requires researchers to use Science CV to generate the biographical common form and related "other support" documentation for certain grant submissions and reports, NNLM Region 7 presenters said. Javier Martinez Rodriguez, a data services librarian at NYU Langone Health, said NIH implemented the Science CV requirement for some forms on Jan. 25 and will require the common-form workflow for applications with due dates on or after May 8.

The change stems from a White House Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum pushing common disclosure forms across federal research funders, Martinez Rodriguez said, and NIH updated its biosketch format and validation to comply. "So on for any on or after January 25th of this year, the NIH has implemented use of Science CV for the biographical common form and the current and pending or other support common form," he said. He added that the May 8 date applies to application due dates and to subsequent just-in-time or prior-approval submissions that require those forms.

Why it matters: researchers who apply for NIH-funded projects must now generate certified PDFs through Science CV that meet NIH validation rules. The presenters said the change is intended to standardize credential and support disclosure across agencies, reduce repetitive data entry and improve consistency for grant reviewers.

What forms and submissions are affected: Martinez Rodriguez and Kimberly Carlo (NNLM Region 7) identified the biographical sketch common form and the current/pending or other support common form as the immediate targets. The implementation covers grant application submissions and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs); NIH guidance should be consulted for program-specific exceptions noted in each Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Account and certification notes: presenters emphasized linking persistent identifiers (for example, ORCID) and an eRA Commons account to avoid validation errors in the key-person forms. They also noted that certified PDFs from Science CV include certification metadata (certifier name and date/time) and that only the investigator may complete the certification step even if a delegate prepared the draft.

Presenters cautioned about two practical points: do not "flatten" the certified PDF unless the funding notice explicitly requires it, and carefully review any document converted from an older biosketch format to the common form to ensure fields and formats meet current instructions.

The presenters said slides, links and a recording of the session will be shared by email. For authoritative implementation deadlines and technical guidance, researchers should consult NIH policy pages and the OSTP memorandum referenced by NIH.