NIH’s Implementation of Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support

Published December 18, 2025, via Research News

On December 2, 2025, NIH issued NOT-OD-26-018. NIH will require faculty to use SciENcv Common Forms to complete all Biographical Sketch, Biographical Sketch Supplement, and Current and Pending (Other) Support documents for due dates on or after January 25, 2026. The official forms are expected to be available in SciENcv the week of December 15, 2025.

Also effective January 25, 2026, any individual currently participating in a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP) is not eligible to serve as senior/key personnel.

This aligns NIH with the government-wide effort to standardize disclosure forms per the OSTP Policy Regarding Use of Common Disclosure Forms and National Security Presidential Memorandum – 33 (NSPM-33).

Key Changes

  • Common Forms must be completed and certified in SciENcv.
  • Delegates can enter data, but each senior/key personnel must personally certify documents.
  • Delegates can download certified documents.
  • The Institution must certify at the time of application, via AOR signature on the face page of the application, that senior/key person must certify on their Common Biosketch are not a party to a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP)
  • Individuals must certify in their Common Biosketch at the time of application they are not part of a MFTRP.
  • 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. 

Faculty: Prepare for the Transition

  • Create an ORCID ID and SciENcv account, and link them.
  • Assign staff as delegates in SciENcv. This can be done only after staff set up their own SciENcv accounts.
  • Complete Current and Pending (Other) Support Training in Learn@Work.
  • Create NSF versions of the forms (NSF Current and Pending (Other) Support form and NSF Biographical Sketch). This allows you to enter data in a permanent form and retain it for transferring to the official NIH forms when released. The preview versions of the NIH forms will be cleared of all data when the official forms are released (expected late December 2025).
  • Update your profile in eRA Commons. Cleaning up the information in eRA commons now will result in better data importing into the Biosketch form.
  • NIH will initially issue eRA warnings for incorrect form use. These will become errors that block submission on February 6, 2026.
Submission ScenarioYou must use
Application submission:

– For due dates on or before January 24, 2026		The NIH Biosketch and Other Support format pages.
Application submission:

– For due dates on or after January 25, 2026

– All other applications submitted on or after January 25, 2026 under the “NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications” 2-week window of consideration, and NIH applications submitted under the NIH applications submitted under the NIH Continuous Submission Policy.		The Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement.
RPPR submission on or before January 24, 2026The NIH Biosketch and Other Support format pages.
RPPR submission on or after January 25, 2026.The Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement.
JIT submission on or before January 24, 2026.The NIH Biosketch and Other Support format pages.
JIT submission on or after January 25, 2026.The Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement.
Prior approval request submission on or before January 24, 2026.The NIH Biosketch and Other Support format pages.
Prior approval request submission on or after January 25, 2026.The Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement.

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