You must include the four documents outlined on this page for each of the senior/key personnel involved in your proposal to the U.S. National Science Foundation.
This page provides an overview of requirements for senior/key personnel documents. See the full requirements for these documents in the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) II.2.D.h.
On this page
Biographical Sketch
NSF requires a biographical sketch for each individual identified as senior/key personnel. See PAPPG Chapter II.D.2.h(i) for complete coverage on the content and formatting requirements for the biographical sketch.
This document outlines an individual's education and training, their appointments and positions, and other information that helps NSF assess how well qualified the individual is to conduct the proposed activities.
What to include in your biographical sketch
Refer to PAPPG II.D.2.h(i) for the full biographical sketch requirements. A brief outline of the information you will need to include is provided below.
- Identifying information.
- Organization and location.
- Professional preparation.
- Appointments and positions.
- Products.
Note: Starting May 20, 2024, biographical sketches should no longer include information on synergistic activities. These activities must instead be listed in the new Synergistic Activities document.
Senior/key personnel are required to certify that the information is current, accurate and complete. This includes, but is not limited to, information related to domestic and foreign appointments and positions. The certification language is included in the SciENcv template.
Additional information:
- Disclosures required in your biographical sketch
This table provides helpful reference information regarding pre-award and post-award disclosure information in the biographical sketch and current and pending support proposal sections. It identifies where these disclosures must be provided in proposals and in project reports.
How to format your biographical sketch
NSF has partnered with the National Institutes of Health to use SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae as the NSF-approved format for use in preparation of the biographical sketch section of an NSF proposal. Adoption of a single, common researcher profile system for federal grants reduces administrative burden for researchers.
Proposers must use SciENcv to prepare their biographical sketches for proposals to NSF.
SciENcv will produce an NSF-compliant PDF version of the biographical sketch. Proposers must save this document and submit it as part of their proposal via Research.gov or Grants.gov.
Current and Pending (Other) Support
NSF requires information on all current and pending support for ongoing projects and proposals. This document contains a list of an individual's proposed and active projects and sources of support. It is used by NSF to assess:
- The capacity of the individual to carry out the proposed research.
- Any potential scientific and budgetary overlap or duplication across projects.
- The potential the individual is overcommitting themselves with the proposed project.
Refer to PAPPG II.D.2.h(ii) for the full Current and Pending (Other) Support requirements.
What to include in your Current and Pending (Other) Support document
A brief outline of the information you will need to include is provided below. Detailed information about the required content is available in PAPPG Chapter II.D.2.h(ii).
- Identifying information.
- Organization and location.
- Projects/proposals, including the following:
- Project/proposal title.
- Status of support.
- Source of support.
- Primary place of performance.
- Start date.
- End date.
- Total award amount.
- Person-months (or partial person-months) per year committed to the project/proposed project.
- Overall objectives.
- Statement of potential overlap.
- In-kind contributions.
- Certification that the information you've provided is current, accurate and complete.
Senior/key personnel are required to certify that the information is current, accurate and complete. This includes, but is not limited to, information related to current, pending and other support (both foreign and domestic).
Additional information:
- Disclosures required in your Current and Pending (Other) Support:
This table provides helpful reference information regarding pre-award and post-award disclosure information in the biographical sketch and current and pending support proposal sections. It identifies where these disclosures must be provided in proposals and in project reports.
How to format your Current and Pending (Other) Support information
NSF has partnered with the National Institutes of Health to use SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae as the NSF-approved format for use in preparation of the current and pending support section of an NSF proposal. Adoption of a single, common researcher profile system for federal grants reduces administrative burden for researchers.
Proposers must use SciENcv to prepare their Current and Pending (Other) Support information for proposals to NSF.
SciENcv will produce NSF-compliant PDF versions of the current and pending support format. Proposers must save this document and submit it as part of their proposal via Research.gov or Grants.gov.
Collaborators and Other Affiliations
This document contains a table of an individual's collaborators, such as their advisors, co-authors and students. NSF requires the use of the for identifying this information. NSF uses Collaborators and Other Affiliations information during the merit review process to help manage reviewer selection. To expedite identification of potential reviewers, having a standard, searchable format for this information is essential.
NOTE: Some information requested in prior versions of the PAPPG is no longer requested. This is purposeful and we no longer require you to report this information.
In the past, the submission of collaborators and other affiliations information was often in formats that resulted in unsearchable text because of the variety of software and document formats used.
By having each principal investigator, co-PI and other senior project personnel individually upload an .xlsx document, and having Research.gov perform all of the conversions, we preserve searchable text in the resulting PDFs to the greatest extent practicable. This will help reduce the burden on NSF program staff who currently must spend time to manipulate files that are non-searchable.
In addition to the benefits to the merit review process, it is hoped that this template will provide a compliant and reusable format for PIs to maintain and update their collaborators and other affiliations information for use in subsequent proposal submissions to NSF.
What to include in your Collaborators and Other Affiliations information
Refer to PAPPG II.D.2.h(iii) for the full Collaborators and Other Affiliations information requirements. A brief outline of the information you will need to include is provided below.
- Your name and organizational affiliation.
- The names of anyone whose relationship to you precludes their service as a reviewer — including personal, family or business relationships — and what type of relationship you have with them.
- Names and organizational affiliations of your Ph.D. advisor and Ph.D. thesis advisees.
- Names and organizational affiliations of any co-authors or project collaborators in the last 48 months.
- Names of editorial boards, editors-in-chief and co-editors you have interacted with in the last 24 months. Do not list editors or reviewers you have interacted with because of a paper submission.
How to format your Collaborators and Other Affiliations information
You must use NSF's to prepare your information. The template has been developed to be fillable, however, the content and format requirements must not be altered as this will create printing and viewing errors.
The way you upload your completed information will depend on whether you are submitting your proposal via Research.gov or Grants.gov.
- Research.gov users: This template must be saved in .xlsx format and directly uploaded into Research.gov as a Collaborators and Other Affiliations Single Copy Document. Research.gov will convert the uploaded .xlsx file to a PDF. Using the .xlsx format will enable preservation of searchable text that otherwise would be lost. It is imperative that this document be uploaded in .xlsx format only; uploading a document in any format other than .xlsx may delay the timely processing and review of your proposal.
- Grants.gov users: The collaborators and other affiliations information must be provided through use of the template and uploaded as a PDF attachment.
Synergistic Activities
NSF requires this one-page document for each individual identified as senior/key personnel.
What to include in your Synergistic Activities information
A list of up to five distinct examples that demonstrate the broader impact of your professional and scholarly activities, focusing on the creation, integration and transfer of knowledge.
Refer to PAPPG II.D.2.h(iv) for additional information.
How to format your Synergistic Activities information
Once you have prepared your Synergistic Activities information, save it as a PDF and submit it as part of your proposal via Research.gov or Grants.gov.
Questions?
For submission system-related questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov.
Policy-related questions regarding the content of the senior/key personnel documents should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.