Key Dates

Related Announcements

September 4, 2025 – Preview of NIH Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support Coming Soon to SciENcv. See Notice: NOT-OD-25-152.

July 17, 2025 - NIH Announces a New Policy Requirement to Train Senior/Key Personnel on Other Support Disclosure Requirements.  See Notice NOT-OD-25-133.

Issued by

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH)

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Purpose

In an effort to support strong collaboration between Federal research agencies, NIH is adopting the Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support as per the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memorandum on Policy Regarding Use of Common Disclosure Forms. This Guide Notice provides details for the Common Forms, NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement, and instructions required for use for application due dates and Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) submissions on or after January 25, 2026.  An important reminder: institutions must maintain internal controls (e.g., policies and procedures) for disclosure, which must include training on these policies and procedures for senior/key personnel.

A table entitled, NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance Pre- and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support for NIH will be posted on Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support that provides helpful reference information regarding pre-award and post-award disclosures. The table includes the types of activities to be reported, where such activities must be reported in the application, as well as when updates are required in the application and award lifecycle. A final column identifies activities that are not required to be reported. 

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Prohibition:

Effective January 25, 2026, individuals who are a current party to a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP) are not eligible to serve as a senior/key person on an NIH grant or cooperative agreement.

Definition: Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program.

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Certification:

NIH will require MFTRP certifications from applicants and individuals identified as senior/key personnel with its implementation of the Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current/Pending (Other) Support.

• Institutional Certification: In accordance with Section 10632 of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C. § 19232), the AOR must certify, via their signature on the face page of the application (i.e., SF424 R&R cover form), that all individuals identified by the applicant as senior/key personnel have been made aware of and have complied with their responsibility under that section to certify that the individual is not a party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program.
• Individual Certification at the time of the application: In accordance with Section 10632 of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C. § 19232), each individual identified by the applicant as a senior/key person must certify on their Common Form for Biographical Sketch, attached on the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Form, that they are not a party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program.
• Annual Certification at the time of the RPPR: For NIH awards with RPPRs submitted on or after January 25, 2026, individuals serving as senior/key personnel must certify annually to their participation or non-participation in an MFTRP by uploading a certification statement in Section G.1, Special Notice of Award and Funding Opportunity Announcement Reporting Requirements as a flattened PDF file. The file for each senior/key person must be named ‘MFTRPcert_[Name].pdf’ without quotations, where ‘[Name]’ is the name of the senior/key person. 

Effective Date

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 JIT, RPPR, and Prior Approval submissions on or after January 25, 2026.

This effective date replaces the date previously communicated in NOT-OD-24-163. See table below for the effective dates relevant to different submission scenarios. 

Note: NIH will enforce the use of the Common Forms via eRA system validations immediately as a warning when the wrong form is used. By February 6, 2026, the warning will be elevated into an error preventing submission of the incorrect or uncertified forms. Failure to utilize the correct forms during the timeframes specified in the table below will cause NIH to withdraw your application from consideration.

Reminder: When a receipt date/submission date falls on a weekend, Federal holiday, or Washington, DC area Federal office closure, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day. See NIH Submission Policies.

Availability of Forms and Instructions:

A preview of the Biographical Sketch Common Form, NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement, and Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form and instructions are currently available in Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) (see Guide Notice NOT-OD-25-152).

NIH anticipates finalizing the templates in SciENcv for Common Forms, the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement and associated instructions the week of December 15, 2025. 

General Information for Completing Common Forms

• NIH will require the use of SciENcv to complete Common Forms (i.e., Biographical Sketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support) and the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement to produce digitally certified PDF(s).
• All individuals required to submit one of the above documents to NIH must:
  • Obtain an Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID iD).
  • Link their ORCID iD to their eRA Commons account. For information on linking an ORCID iD to the eRA Commons account see the ORCID iD topic in the eRA Commons online help.
  • Confirm their ORCID iD is displayed in the Persistent Identifier (PID) section of the Common Forms.
• NIH will require certification from each individual (not their delegate) of their own form(s) in SciENcv acknowledging information is: 1) current, accurate, and complete and 2) at time of submission, they are not a party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program.

Biographical Sketch Common Form and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement:

• The Biographical Sketch Common Form and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement are required by each individual identified as a senior/key person on a Federally funded research project. For NIH, these instructions also apply to all other individuals required to submit a Biographical Sketch and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement.
• SciENcv will be used to complete both forms in a single user interface. There will be a single certification to certify both forms and a single PDF output containing both forms for application submission.
• Section D. Scholastic Performance (Fellowship) is no longer required or accepted as per NOT-OD-24-107: Implementation of Revisions to the NIH and AHRQ Fellowship Application and Review Process. See Changes to Fellowship Applications for additional guidance.
• There is no page limit for the combined Biographical Sketch Common Form and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement PDF output. See table below for character limits applicable to specific sections of the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement.

Notable changes for the Biographical Sketch are as follows:

Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form:

• The Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form is required by each individual identified as a senior/key person on a Federally funded research project. For NIH, these instructions also apply to all other individuals required to submit Current and Pending (Other) Support.
• Information on Current and Pending (Other) Support is not specifically requested for Program Directors, training faculty, and other individuals involved in the oversight of training grants since applicable information is collected in other sections of a training grant application. Current and Pending (Other) Support is not required to be submitted for individuals categorized as Other Significant Contributors.

Notable changes for Current and Pending (Other) Support are as follows:

Reminders and Tips for SciENcv:

Below are basic reminders/tips for successfully completing the Common Form documents in SciENcv to ensure your submission will pass eRA system validations.

• Associate your ORCID iD account and eRA Commons account with SciENcv.
• The file name of the PDF may be updated once certified and downloaded from SciENcv. The file name must align with guidance as noted on Format Attachments, File Names. 
• Do not flatten the PDF once certified and downloaded from SciENcv (unless otherwise noted in the Application Guide or Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Instructions).
• Delegates can be assigned in SciENcv to assist an investigator in populating the forms, but only that investigator can certify and complete the process.
• Investigators with an existing SciENcv document (e.g., National Science Foundation Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form, NIH Biosketch, etc.) will be able to transfer their information to the appropriate version of the NIH Common Forms.  Investigators taking this approach are encouraged to carefully review the new version to ensure the information is still accurate and any missing fields are addressed.
• The Biographical Sketch Common Form and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement are two separate forms but are completed and certified together in a single user interface in SciENcv that will produce a single PDF document.
• The Supporting Documentation (copies of contracts specific to senior/key-personnel foreign appointments and/or employment with a foreign institution for all foreign activities and resources) reported with Current and Pending (Other) Support are not added in SciENcv. They will be added as a separate flattened attachment in eRA JIT, RPPR and Prior Approval modules.
• SciENcv has completed development on new XML Data Upload functionality to aid applicants and recipients in completion of the Common Forms for NIH’s implementation. Refer to How do I structure a Current & Pending (Other) Support XML File for SciENcv? for additional information. 

Reminders and Tips for eRA Commons:

Below are basic reminders/tips for successfully submitting your Common Form documents in your application, RPPR, Just-in-Time (JIT) or Prior Approval request submissions to ensure they will pass eRA system validations.

• Link your ORCID iD to your eRA Commons account.
• The file name of the PDF may be updated once certified and downloaded from SciENcv. The file name must align with guidance as noted on Format Attachments, File Names.
• Do not flatten the PDF once certified and downloaded from SciENcv (unless otherwise noted in the Application Guide Instructions).
• Application Submission Scenarios:
  • The single PDF document containing the Biographical Sketch Common Form and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement will be added to the Biographical Sketch attachment field on the SF-424 Senior Key Person Profile Form for each individual required to submit a Biographical Sketch.
  • The Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form will be added to the Current and Pending Support attachment field on the SF-424 Senior Key Person Profile Form for each individual required to submit a Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form.  For this specific scenario, the “Supplemental Documentation” is not required and should not be appended to the Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form.
  • Biographical Sketch Common Forms for proposed mentors and training faculty members included in the "Participating Faculty Biosketches" attachment of the PHS 398 Research Training Program Plan Form, must be completed in SciENcv and certified on an individual basis. When submitting this information, the applicant should combine all the forms into a single PDF file and flatten it for submission.
• RPPR, JIT and Prior Approval Scenarios:
  • These eRA modules are being updated to allow attachment of the Common Forms at an individual person-level rather than compiled into a single flattened PDF document for multiple individuals.
  • The user interfaces (UIs) are being updated to have separate attachment fields for Current and Pending (Other) Support, Biographical Sketch/NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement and Supporting Documentation (i.e., Foreign Contracts).
  • These new UIs will be deployed on January 26, 2026 for use by applicants and recipients making submissions on or after that date. 

Resources

Instructions for the Biographical Sketch Common Form and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement as well as FAQs are available.

Instructions for Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form as well FAQs are available.

Additional resources, including training videos will be posted on Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support as they become available.

Inquiries

For policy related questions, please direct inquiries to:

NIH Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA)

Division of Grant Systems Integration (DGSI)
Systems Policy Branch
[email protected]

For technical questions related to the use of SciENcv, please direct inquiries to:

SciENcv Helpdesk

[email protected]

For technical questions related to the use of eRA, please direct inquiries to:

eRA Service Desk

Online Help: https://www.era.nih.gov/need-help 

Note: All aspects outlined within this Guide Notice apply to all participating agencies. Please direct all inquiries to the respective partner agency contacts. 

Please direct all AHRQ inquiries to:

Francis D. Chesley, Jr., M.D.
Director, Office of Extramural Research, Education, and Priority Populations
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
[email protected] 

Please direct all CDC inquiries to:
L.C. Browning
Grants Management Specialist
Centers For Disease Control and Prevention
Email: [email protected]

Please direct all VA inquiries to:
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Email: [email protected]