Preparing Biosketches for Grant Applications

What Is a Biosketch?

A biosketch is a standardized summary of your qualifications, experience, and contributions relevant to a specific grant application. It replaces the traditional CV in federal grant applications, providing reviewers with a concise snapshot of why you are qualified to lead or contribute to the proposed project.

Unlike a CV, which lists everything you have done, a biosketch is selective and strategic. You choose which positions, publications, and accomplishments to highlight based on their relevance to the specific proposal. A well-crafted biosketch tells a focused story about your expertise and productivity.

Agency-Specific Formats

NIH Biosketch

The NIH biosketch follows a five-page format with four required sections.

Section A: Personal Statement. A brief narrative (one to three paragraphs) describing why you are well-suited for the proposed project. This is your opportunity to connect your experience directly to the specific aims of the application. Mention relevant expertise, past work that informs the current project, and any ongoing or completed projects that demonstrate your ability to execute the proposed research. You may cite up to four publications or research products that support this statement.

Section B: Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors. List your positions in reverse chronological order, followed by relevant honors and awards. Include only positions and honors that establish your qualifications. Early-career investigators should include graduate and postdoctoral positions; senior investigators can focus on their most significant appointments.

Section C: Contributions to Science. This section is the heart of the NIH biosketch. Describe up to five of your most significant contributions to science. For each contribution, provide a brief narrative explaining the significance and impact of the work, followed by up to four publications or research products that document the contribution. The narratives should tell the story of your research program and demonstrate a track record of productivity and impact.

Section D: Research Support and Funding. List your ongoing and recently completed (within the past three years) research grants and contracts. Include the title, funding source, dates, direct costs, and your role for each award. This section demonstrates that you can secure and manage research funding.

NSF Biographical Sketch

The NSF biographical sketch is limited to three pages and follows a different structure. It includes professional preparation (education), appointments and positions, products (up to five most closely related to the project and five other significant products), and synergistic activities. NSF recently transitioned to the SciENcv system for biosketch preparation, which generates a compliant format automatically.

NSF limits you to ten products (publications, datasets, patents, software, etc.) rather than the more expansive list allowed by NIH. Choose products that directly support your qualifications for the proposed work.

Writing an Effective Personal Statement

The personal statement (NIH) is where many investigators miss an opportunity. This is not a generic career summary — it is a targeted argument for why you are the right person for this specific project.

Address these questions: What is your relevant expertise? What prior work have you done that informs this project? What unique qualifications do you bring? If you have successfully completed similar projects in the past, say so and cite the evidence.

For early-career investigators with shorter track records, focus on the depth and rigor of your training, your preliminary work, and the mentoring and institutional support available to you. Reviewers do not expect a junior investigator to have the same record as a senior one, but they do expect to see promise and preparation.

Crafting Contributions to Science

Each contribution narrative should follow a pattern: describe the problem you addressed, the approach you took, the key findings, and the impact on the field. Be specific about your personal role, especially for work done in collaboration with others. Reviewers want to know what you contributed, not just what the team accomplished.

Select contributions that are relevant to the proposed project. If you are proposing a clinical trial, highlight contributions related to clinical research methodology, the disease area, or the patient population. If your biosketch reads like a greatest-hits compilation with no connection to the current proposal, reviewers will question whether you have the specific expertise needed.

Common Mistakes

• Using an outdated format. Both NIH and NSF update their biosketch requirements periodically. Verify that you are using the current format before every submission. Using SciENcv ensures compliance with the latest requirements.
• Writing a generic personal statement. Tailor the personal statement to each proposal. A statement that does not reference the specific project suggests you are recycling material rather than presenting a focused case for your qualifications.
• Listing publications without context. In the NIH Contributions to Science section, the narrative is as important as the citations. Publications without explanatory narratives miss the point of the format.
• Including irrelevant information. Every item in your biosketch should support your qualifications for the proposed project. Awards, positions, and publications that are unrelated to the proposal dilute the impact of the relevant ones.
• Exceeding page limits. Biosketches that exceed the specified page limit may be removed from the application by the funding agency. This is a preventable disaster.

Practical Tips

Use SciENcv. The Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae system (SciENcv) is an NIH-maintained tool that generates biosketches in the correct format for multiple agencies. It pulls publication data from PubMed and other databases, reducing manual entry errors.

Update regularly. Maintain a master biosketch document that you update whenever you publish a paper, receive an award, or begin a new grant. Adapting a current master document for a specific proposal is far easier than building a biosketch from scratch under deadline pressure.

Get feedback. Ask a colleague or mentor to read your biosketch with the specific aims of your proposal in mind. Can they see a clear connection between your qualifications and the proposed project? If not, revise the personal statement and contributions to make that connection explicit.

Your biosketch is a persuasion document, not just an administrative form. Treat it with the same strategic care you give to the rest of your proposal, and it will serve as a powerful argument for your qualifications and readiness to deliver results.