Biographical Sketch Common Form

Use of the Common Forms for Biographical Sketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement will be required for application due dates and all Just-in-Time, Research Performance Progress Reports, and Prior Approval submissions on or after January 25, 2026.

Note
After evaluating the number and types of recent technical inquiries we received to both the SciENcv and eRA Service Desks, we recognize the difficulties these issues have had on the community’s ability to comply with the original timeline of January 25, 2026.

To allow for a period of leniency, NIH will provide a warning when the Common Forms are not used but will not withdraw applications that don’t comply with the use of the Common Forms. We expect the leniency to be in place through May 2026 (see NOT-OD-26-033).

NIH will issue a future Guide Notice (anticipated Spring of 2026) announcing the date when the validation will be changed to an error and the requirement to use the Common Forms will be system-enforced.