NIH's Implementation of SciENcv and Common Forms

Support for Researchers and Administrators

What are SciENcv and the Common Forms?

The NIH is implementing the Common Forms (Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support) for all applications, JITs, and RPPRs submitted on or after January 25, 2026.  With the implementation:  

  • Applicants/Recipients will be required to use Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) for preparing and certifying NIH Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support) forms to produce digitally certified PDFs for use in application submission. This is the same system currently used by other federal sponsors, including NSF and Dept. of Energy.
  • The NIH also will require all Senior/Key Personnel to link their ORCID ID to SciENcv. ORCID is a free, unique, persistent identifier (PID) for individuals to use as they engage in research, scholarship, and innovation activities. An ORCID ID helps researchers connect their acitivities (publications, grants, affiliations) to themselves, regardless of name changes or common names.
  • The final versions of the NIH Common Forms (Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support) are available within SciENcv as of December 17, 2025.
  • Individuals can refer to the NIH Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) re the Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support for more information.

 

The Office of Pediatric Research Development (OPRD) team will continue to update this page with the latest updates and resources to support Pediatrics faculty during this transition.

SciENcv

SciENcv is the portal where investigators will prepare, store, revise, and edit their documents.

  • PIs should leverage their ORCID or eRA commons ID to transfer information re: training/education, appointments, and research products. It is key to link an investigator's citation history to their SciENcv account to more easily prepare documents.
  • Research administrators and other support staff may be given delegate access to aid in preparation and management of documents.
  • PIs must certify all documents before they can be downloaded from the system.

Common Forms

The NIH Commons Forms are new templates for collecting Biosketch and Other Support information from investigators and other key personnel. 

Biosketch

  • The Biosketch is now comprised of two forms that are automatically combined into a single document by the system. The first form contains the PI information (education, training, appointments) and citations (up to 10 total) most relevant to the proposed research project. The second form captures the Personal Statement, Honors, and Contributions to Science (up to 5 entries).    
  • The NIH Biosketch no longer has a standard page limit. Rather, SciENcv will uphold new character limits for each section. As long as the character limits are honored, the document may now be longer than 5 pages.
  • A significant change to the Biosketch is how citations/products are now listed. Instead of citing products throughout the document, a total of 10 research products may now be cited: five that are most relevant to the project, and five that are tied to the investigator's scientific contributions. In practice, this means that each Biosketch will likely contain fewer citations than in the past.

Other Support

While NIH is not making drastic changes to the format of this document, researchers should note the addition of two new subsections for each current/pending entry: Overall Objectives and Statement of Potential Overlap. These are now required sections for each item. 

  • For most applications, Other Support forms are not required at application stage. For K applications, Other Support is required for the mentor(s).
  • The Common Forms update coincides with the new training requirement (NOT-OD-25-133) that institutions must abide by re: disclosures. To comply, Senior/Key Personnel must view a 3-minute video from ORA prior to submission of a proposal or RPPR. Compliance is confirmed within the PIF or PDRF; no other documentation is required.        

Guidance for Administrators

Current Administrator Action Items

Access your SciENcv account and familiarize yourself with the SciENcv user interface - anyone with an active SUNet ID can access SciENcv!

  • Navigate to the SciENcv login page.
  • Click More Options >> other login options >> more login options. Type Stanford and select "Stanford University" to sign as a Partner Organization.  You will be signed in using your Stanford SSO credentials.
  • Once logged in, work with your investigators to obtain delegate access to their SciENcv accounts. Step-by-step instructions for delegating SciENcv access are available on the ORA SciENcv Resources page. Once you have delegate access to your investigator accounts you can begin creating NIH Common Forms for your investigators!

As a delegate, you will be able to create, modify, and delete documents within the PI accounts that grant them access. Delegates cannot grant their own access, nor can they certify documents or perform account maintenance activities for a PI (such as linking an ORCID profile). 

To view a recorded SciENcv training for administrators from OPRD's Pre-Award team, please click here. The training is from October 2025 and is one hour long.

What's New?

Important FAQ! SciENcv does not currently support text formatting such as bold and italics. Investigators and administrators should note that certified documents *must not* be edited outside of the system to adjust formatting, as this may corrupt the metadata and create a compliance/security issue within the form. 

The Office of Research Administration (ORA) will host a webinar dedicated to new NIH Common Forms/SciENcv implementation on January 20, 2026 at 2:00 PST. You can access these trainings via the ORA Webinar Zoom Link.

Office Hours for SciENcv Assistance - Sign Up!
Training Materials and How-To Guides

RESOURCES