As of Monday, October 4, 2021 new formats of the NSF Biographical Sketch and Current & Pending Support forms are required. These new forms incorporate the revisions in the newest Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 22-1) which also went into effect on October 4.

Biographical Sketches

The NSF Biographical Sketch is used by reviewers to determine how well qualified the individual or team is to conduct the proposed activities. All senior personnel are required to complete a biographical sketch using the NSF PDF template -or- using SciENcv to convey information on their Professional Preparation, Appointments*, Products and Synergistic Activities.

*Appointments should include all current domestic and foreign professional appointments outside of the individual’s academic, professional, or institutional appointments at the proposing organization. Additionally, academic, professional, or institutional appointments, whether or not remuneration is received, and whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary should be reported.

• The page limit for each biosketch included is now 3 pages.
• Biosketches must be generated using the NSF PDF template or SciENcv. Generating the biosketch using a format other than the pdf template or using SciENcv will result in an error upon submission. See ‘Resources’ below for a link to FAQs on using the NSF fillable pdf or SciENcv* to generate the NSF biosketch.

The new biosketch format will also be required when there is a Change of PI request or an Add/Change co-PI request via FastLane.

Current & Pending Support

NSF uses Current & Pending Support to assess the capacity of an individual to carry out the activities proposed, in addition to assessing any potential overlap or duplication of activities with the project being proposed. In this regard, the new C&P looks a lot like the NIH ‘Other Support’ document in that it now requires information on objectives and overlap with other projects. Like the Biographical Sketch, a C&P document is required for any senior personnel on the proposal.

C&P information is required for the project being proposed, for ongoing projects, and for any projects or proposals currently under consideration by another source such as another Federal agency, State, local, foreign, public, private, non-profit, industry, or internal funds. Senior personnel should report on all projects currently under consideration from whatever source, and all ongoing projects, irrespective of whether support is provided through the proposing organization, another organization, or directly to the individual.

Whereas the prior C&P asked for Project Title, Project Dates, Source of Support, Amount of Funding, and Person-months dedicated, the new C&P requires a statement of the overall objectives of the project being proposed and a statement of potential overlap with any active or pending proposal or in-kind contribution.

• Addition of new sections for information on objectives and overlap with other projects
• C&P documents must be generated using the NSF PDF template or SciENcv. Generating the C&P document using a format other than the pdf template or using SciENcv will result in an error upon submission. See ‘Resources’ for a link to FAQs on using the fillable pdf or SciENcv to generate the NSF C&P document.
• Research.gov, FastLane, and Grants.gov will remove any pages which do not contain data entered by users in the fillable pdf.
• The C&P support fillable pdf is automatically paginated.

The new current & pending format will also be required when there is a Change of PI request or an Add/Change co-PI request via FastLane. Also, if there is a change in current and pending support information after an award is made, or after an annual report is provided, NSF must be notified.

For additional information, consult the resources below.