Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A PI preparing an NSF proposal due in November 2023 must generate both the Biographical Sketch and the Current and Pending (Other) Support document in SciENcv -- NSF's older fillable-PDF alternative for both documents was retired for proposals submitted or due on or after October 23, 2023.
- Is an instance
A PI generates their NSF Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support from the same underlying SciENcv profile they also use to generate NIH-format documents for a separate NIH application -- SciENcv is a shared NSF/NIH tool, but it still produces agency-specific, digitally certified output for whichever funder's format is requested.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A co-PI preparing an NIH R01 application with a November 2023 due date was not yet required to use NIH's redesigned Common Form Biographical Sketch -- NIH's own Common Forms mandate did not take effect until due dates on or after January 25, 2026 (NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-26-018). NSF's and NIH's Common Forms timelines should not be assumed to run together even though both are implementations of the same NSPM-33 policy.
Editorial commentary
What NSF Common Forms are
NSF Common Forms is shorthand for the pair of standardized disclosure documents the National Science Foundation requires on proposals under National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33): the Biographical Sketch and the Current and Pending (Other) Support statement. NSPM-33 directed federal research funding agencies to adopt consistent, standardized disclosure forms covering a researcher’s positions, affiliations, and outside support, so that conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment can be assessed on a comparable basis across funders — ‘common’ refers to that shared underlying form structure across agencies, not to a single shared submission deadline.
How NSF implemented the mandate, and when
NSF’s rollout proceeded in stages: revised Common Form versions of the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support became available for proposals submitted or due on or after January 30, 2023 (NSF PAPPG 23-1, Chapter II.D.2.h), initially producible either through SciENcv or an NSF fillable PDF. SciENcv then became mandatory — the fillable-PDF option was retired — for proposals submitted or due on or after October 23, 2023. A further format revision took effect May 20, 2024, moving Synergistic Activities out of the Biographical Sketch into its own separate one-page document, uploaded independently rather than generated in SciENcv. For the full field-by-field structure of the document itself and its complete timeline detail, see CASRAI’s NSF Biosketch (SciENcv) entry.
What is, and isn’t, part of the Common Forms package
The Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support are the two documents that make up NSF’s Common Forms. Two related but separate NSF disclosure requirements are explicitly not part of the Common Forms package: the Synergistic Activities document (its own one-page upload since the May 2024 revision) and the Collaborators and Other Affiliations (COA) disclosure, which uses NSF’s own required spreadsheet template uploaded directly to Research.gov rather than a SciENcv-generated Common Form.
How NSF’s timeline differs from NIH’s
NSF and NIH both implement NSPM-33 through a shared Common Form structure and the same SciENcv authoring tool, but on different timelines that should not be conflated. NSF’s mandate took effect in 2023, as described above. NIH’s own Common Forms mandate — covering its Biographical Sketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support, and a separate Biographical Sketch Supplement — did not take effect until proposals and reports due on or after January 25, 2026, under NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-26-018, with hard enforcement (blocking non-compliant submissions) beginning May 8, 2026. See CASRAI’s NIH Biosketch Common Form: What Changed in 2026 guide for the NIH-specific mechanics, and the NIH FORMS-I vs. FORMS-H comparison for the separate (and also frequently confused) NIH application-forms-package version change.
Where to prepare NSF Common Forms today
NSF requires SciENcv for both documents; the earlier fillable-PDF alternative has not been accepted since October 2023. Current guidance and the authoring tool itself are maintained on NSF’s senior personnel documents pages and linked directly from Research.gov proposal preparation.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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