Announcements

Requirement to Use SciENcv for NIH Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support Documents

The mandate to use SciENcv for preparation of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support documents will go into effect for application due dates and report submission dates on or after January 25, 2026.

Applicants and recipients must not use these forms for application due dates and report submission dates on or before January 24, 2026.

While the new forms are not to be used prior to January 25, we strongly encourage investigators to create their SciENcv account and become familiar with the system prior to January 25.

Read the NIH announcement here.

Background

SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae enables researchers to assemble their professional information, including expertise, employment, education, and professional accomplishments, and generate sponsor-compliant personnel documents. Adoption of this single, common profile system for federal grants reduces administrative burden for researchers.

Using SciENcv

This job aid will assist you in creating your SciENcv account and creating the required documents.

An ORCID ID will be required for the NIH Common Forms. The ID must be linked to your eRA Commons Personal Profile.

Using your ORCID ID with SciENcv

Researchers are required to obtain an ORCID ID (Open Researcher & Contributor ID). An ORCID ID is a free persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. ORCID is a space to collect all of your scholarly works, from traditional articles to art works and dance performances to datasets and more.

Linking your ORCID account in SciENcv will import your profile information and publication data into your SciENcv profile. See the job aid for more instructions.

Quick Links

Job Aid

SciENcv

Video – About SciENcv, How to Set Up an Account, How to Prepare Personnel Documents

Resources – Creating NIH, NSF, DOE or USDA-Compliant Documents with SciENcv

SciENcv Help Manual

ORCID

SIU ORCID Slide Set – Managing Your Online Identity

New Research Security Training Requirement for DOE Award Applicants

Effective May 1, the Department of Energy (DOE) will require research security training for all individuals listed on DOE funding submissions, including flow-through projects. Training must be completed prior to proposal submission; proposals will not be submitted without completed training. We anticipate similar training requirements to apply to NSF awards starting in October.

SIUC offers the Research Security Training (Combined) course via CITI, which takes approximately one hour to complete. For instructions on accessing the CITI training platform, please visit the Office of Research Compliance’s training resources webpage or email orc@siu.edu. Should you have any questions or need assistance accessing the training, contact the Office of Research Compliance.

Current and Pending Documents - Internal Guidance

Internal Requirements:
As some may be aware, OSPA is transitioning to the use of an electronic research administration system, Kuali Research (KR), to be released to the campus community for use soon. As OSPA has begun to internally transition to the use of KR to track proposals and awards, we would like to ensure that the campus community is aware of current and pending requirements and definitions and that processes are being followed consistently. This will help guide personnel once KR is released campus-wide. There are currently two internal sources from which effort for current and pending support is tracked: the proposal budget and the proposal checklist.

Proposal budget: includes effort for which salary is requested and/or included as cost share.

Proposal checklist: includes effort committed to the project but NOT reported to the sponsor as salary or cost share. This is entered on the checklist as a percentage of the PI/co-PIs’ SIUC-funded appointment.
For example, if a PI with a 9-month appointment enters 5% on the checklist, this would equal .45 person-months that they are committing to the project in addition to anything reported to the sponsor as a salary request or as cost share.

**If a PI wishes to update the effort reported on the proposal checklist after the appropriate levels of authority (director and dean or equivalents) have signed, an updated checklist will need to be approved showing the new effort, and the effort will be updated in KR.

While we are currently showing a percentage on the proposal checklist, this will become person-months once we fully transition to KR, and project personnel will be entering efforts individually. Every SIU employee will then be able to extract a current and pending support report directly from KR. Following this guidance will ensure that current and pending support is consistent and accurate and can save investigators and OSPA staff time in reviewing documents.

We’re providing this information because the federal government has been placing additional scrutiny on current and pending support and the impact on federal research. Our office is tasked with ensuring that our reporting is consistent and compliant. The federal updates can be accessed on individual sponsor websites, or OSPA’s Other Support page. If you have any questions related to current and pending support being reported at the proposal or just-in-time stage, please contact your assigned OSPA team member. For questions on how to report changes to current and pending support at the award stage, please email contracts@siu.edu.

Summary of NSF Changes

The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a revised version of the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), version 24-1, on January 22, 2024. The new PAPPG is effective for proposals submitted or due on or after May 20, 2024. Below are some notable policy changes, for a complete list of the changes and additional details, please see the updated PAPPG (NSF 24-1). Please contact OSPA with any questions.

Foreign Organizations - updated guidance for justifying the inclusion of a foreign organization (sub-award) or foreign individual (consultant) in a proposal budget. The justification must be included in the project description section of the proposal and the box for “Funding of a Foreign Organization or Foreign Individual” must be checked on the Cover Sheet.

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs – guidance provided for individuals who are a party to a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program. Such individuals are not eligible to serve as a Senior/Key Person on NSF proposals and awards. This new policy is part of NSF’s implementation of the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (NSPM-33). Additionally, as part of the proposal submission, MSU must certify that all individuals identified as senior/key persons have been made aware of and have complied with their responsibility to certify that they are not a party to a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program.
Biographical Sketch – implementing the new Common Disclosure form, removing the Synergistic Activities section, and removing the page limitation. The Biographical Sketch will continue to be created in SciENcv, which will produce a pdf-compliant version that can be attached to the proposal on Research.gov.
New Synergistic Activities Document – Synergistic Activities that used to be included as part of the Biographical Sketch have been moved to a separate document. Each individual identified as senior/key personnel must include a one-page document with up to five examples that demonstrate the broader impact of the individual’s professional and scholarly activities that focus on the creation, integration, and transfer of knowledge. This document is submitted as part of the Senior/Key personnel documents in Research.gov.
Current and Pending (Other) Support – implementing the new Common Disclosure form. The Current and Pending Support form will continue to be created in SciENcv, which will produce a PDF-compliant version that can be attached to the proposal on Research.gov.
Proposal Font, Spacing, and Margin Requirements - updated to allow for submission of proposal documents in landscape format.
Mentoring Plan - the Mentoring Plan has been expanded, requiring a plan for graduate students and/or postdoctoral researchers supported on a project. The page limit for a Mentoring Plan is still one page.
Tribal Nation Approval – proposals that may impact the resources of a Tribal Nation must seek and obtain approval from the Tribal Nation before award.

NSF Updates: New Proposal Guide and Research Security Training

New NSF Research Security Training Modules

NSF has launched four interactive online research security training modules, now available to researchers and institutions across the U.S. These modules are designed to facilitate principled international collaboration in an open, transparent, and secure environment that safeguards the nation's research ecosystem.

Fueled by the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022," these training modules signify a major first step in reconciling the needs of the research, law enforcement, and intelligence communities to pursue trusted relationships in the global research community while minimizing economic and security risks. They provide researchers with clear guidelines and effective strategies to protect against existing and emerging research security threats. The modules also reinforce NSF's commitment to President Biden's priorities to strengthen protections of U.S. government-supported research as outlined in the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33.

MODULES:

Module 1: Introduction to Research Security

Module 2: The Importance of Disclosure

Module 3: Manage and Mitigate Risk

Module 4: The Importance of International Collaboration

These training modules can be taken online, and users can download a completion certificate.