Every senior or key person listed on a NASA research proposal must submit a NASA biographical sketch form, and you have two ways to produce one: fill out NASA’s official Word template and convert it to PDF, or generate the document through SciENcv (the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae system). Both routes produce an acceptable file. The template lives on NASA’s grants policy page as a downloadable Word document.1NASA. Biosketch Form SciENcv is free, pulls publication data from PubMed and ORCID, and exports a certified PDF automatically.
The form follows the interagency common biosketch developed under National Security Presidential Memorandum 33, so the structure will look familiar if you have prepared one for NSF or NIH.2National Science Foundation. NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance There is no page or character cap under the current common form, a change from the older NASA Guidebook rules that limited biosketches to one or two pages.1NASA. Biosketch Form Even without a limit, keep it tight. Reviewers work through stacks of proposals.
What Goes in Each Section
Identifying Information
Enter your name as Last, First, Middle, with any suffix. Add your current position title and a persistent identifier such as an ORCID iD, plus your primary organization’s name, city, state or province, and country.1NASA. Biosketch Form If you do not have an ORCID, you can register at no cost at orcid.org. Make sure the identifier resolves to a current profile, because it links the biosketch to your broader research record.
Professional Preparation
List education and training in reverse chronological order by start date. Each undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and fellowship entry stands on its own. Provide the institution, its location, the degree, the start date, the date the degree was conferred or is expected, and the field of study.1NASA. Biosketch Form Missing dates and partial institution information are among the most common administrative flags.
Appointments and Positions
List all academic, professional, and institutional positions in reverse chronological order, starting with your current one. That includes full-time, part-time, voluntary, adjunct, visiting, and honorary roles, paid or unpaid. For positions outside your primary organization, the lookback is three years from the proposal submission date. Each entry needs start and end years, position title, organization name, department if applicable, and location.1NASA. Biosketch Form
Domestic and foreign positions both belong here. An unpaid advisory role at an overseas institution counts. So does an honorary appointment. If in doubt, list it.
Products
The products section shows reviewers you can do the proposed work. Peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, datasets, software, patents, and other tangible research outputs all qualify. Every entry needs full citation information: authors, title, publication date, journal or enclosing work, volume, issue, pages, URL, and a persistent identifier such as a DOI where one exists.1NASA. Biosketch Form There is no numeric cap, but this is not the moment to be exhaustive. Choose products that connect directly to the science you are proposing and where your contribution was substantive.
Do not include home addresses, personal phone numbers, or personal email addresses anywhere in the document. The form warns against personal contact information explicitly.
The Certification You Sign Personally
At the bottom of the biosketch, you certify two things. First, that the information you provided is current, accurate, and complete, including all domestic and foreign appointments. Second, that you are not a party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program.1NASA. Biosketch Form You sign this yourself. It cannot be delegated to a grants officer or administrative assistant.
The malign foreign talent recruitment program prohibition comes from 42 U.S.C. § 19232. Each person listed on a federal research proposal must certify non-participation at submission and annually for the life of any resulting award. The submitting institution must also certify that it has informed all senior and key personnel of the requirement and that each has complied.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 19232 – Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Prohibition
Disclosing Foreign Support and Affiliations
NSPM-33 requires disclosure of contracts or support tied to foreign government-sponsored programs, including support that reaches you through an intermediary. Other foreign government-sponsored or affiliated activities must also be reported.4U.S. National Science Foundation. Common Form for the Biographical Sketch The rule of thumb is simple. Any professional relationship with a foreign government entity, whether it involves money, title, or neither, belongs on the form. Omission creates far worse problems than disclosure ever does.
Formatting the PDF and Submitting the Package
Convert the finished document to PDF. The file must be unlocked and contain searchable text, not a scanned image. Encrypted or image-only PDFs are rejected because NASA’s systems cannot process the text.5NSPIRES. ROSES-2024 – Solicitations Summary SciENcv exports a compliant PDF automatically.
The biosketch is uploaded as an attachment inside the full proposal package through NSPIRES, NASA’s Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System, or through Grants.gov.6Grants.gov. View Grant Opportunity – Search Results Detail Either way, you and your organization must be registered in NSPIRES before submission; a Grants.gov submitter without NSPIRES registration risks rejection.7NSPIRES. Member Registration Notices of intent can only be filed through NSPIRES.
The principal investigator or the organization’s authorized representative handles the upload. After successful transmission, the system returns a timestamped confirmation. Save it. Late submissions are rarely accepted absent documented technical failure on NASA’s side.
Why Proposals Get Returned Without Review
Before any peer reviewer sees your science, NASA runs an administrative check on timeliness, eligibility, format, and whether any listed personnel are suspended or debarred from federal funding.8NASA. NASA Guidebook for Proposers Proposals that fail this check are returned with no scientific evaluation.
Biosketch-related triggers for rejection include PDF files that do not meet technical requirements, missing biosketches for any senior or key person, and Grants.gov submissions from organizations that never registered with NSPIRES.8NASA. NASA Guidebook for Proposers One missing biosketch is enough.
Keeping the Biosketch Current During an Award
The obligations do not stop at submission. The malign foreign talent recruitment program certification must be renewed annually for the life of the award.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 19232 – Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Prohibition
Under 2 CFR 200.308, prior written approval from NASA is required before certain personnel changes. Adding or replacing a key person named in the award needs advance approval. So does the principal investigator disengaging from the project for more than three months or reducing effort by 25 percent or more across the performance period.9eCFR. 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart D – Post Federal Award Requirements Send an updated biosketch with the approval request. Failing to report a major personnel change on time can result in suspension or termination of the grant.
What Happens if the Biosketch Is Wrong
Errors range from administrative to criminal depending on intent. NASA’s Acquisition Integrity Program coordinates the agency’s fraud remedies across procurement and non-procurement activity. Under 2 CFR Parts 180 and 1880, NASA can suspend or debar an individual from any federal funding, and debarment can proceed before a criminal or civil case is resolved.10NASA. Coordination of Remedies for Fraud and Corruption Related to NASA Acquisition Activities
Knowingly making a false statement on a document filed with a federal agency violates 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which carries a fine and up to five years in prison. The statute covers concealment of a material fact, not just affirmative lies.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally Leaving a foreign appointment off the biosketch because you hoped it would not surface falls within that reach. Federal prosecutors have brought cases against researchers for exactly that kind of omission on grant applications.