Funding Focus: The New NIH Biosketch

Presenter: Rachel Dresbeck Date: June 19, 2014

New Biosketch • Pilot phase • 5 pages • Allows you to describe up to five of your most

significant contributions to science along with the historical background that framed their research.

• Each description can be supported by up to 4 references

• You can include a link to a full list of you published work as found in a publicly available digital database such as MyBibliography or SciENcv.

• Currently, it’s RFA-specific

What is the rationale? It’s tied to reproducibility of results.

NIH is contemplating modifying the format of its ‘biographical sketch’ form, which grant applicants are required to complete, to emphasize the significance of advances

resulting from work in which the applicant participated, and to delineate the part played by the applicant. Other organizations such as the Howard Hughes Medical

Institute have used this format and found it more revealing of actual contributions to science than the traditional list of unannotated publications.

It allows you to include things like datasets, crystal coordinates, changes to medical practice, patents, or other things that are not publications.

It can also permit a short descriptive paragraph associated with an individual’s most significant scientific publications documenting the advances and subsequent scientific impact.

It also rewards team scientists.

It looks like there will be a significant amount of work

C. Contributions to Science. Describe your five most significant contributions to science. For each of these contributions, cite the peer reviewed publication (or set of no more than four publications) that present(s) the work, followed by a paragraph that includes the following elements: the historical background that frames the scientific problem; the central finding(s); the influence of the finding on the progress of science or on the application(s) of the finding to health and/or technology; and the specific role you played in the described work.

Each scientific contribution, including any related figures, should occupy no more than half a page.

Publications pertinent to the current grant application that are not included among the Contributions to Science may be mentioned in the Background or Preliminary Results section of the application or in a preceding section of the Biosketch (Section A. Personal Statement) that asks ‘why your experience and qualification make you particularly well-suited for your role in the project that is the subject of the application.

At the end of section C, a link to a full listing of your published work as found in a public database such as PubMed may be included.

Lots and Lots of Skepticism NIH is not Howard Hughes, which is an Institute that seeks to fund only the most high profile of scientists (and no one else). The new format will be a distinct disadvantage to any scientist who honestly and realistically views the significance of their work. The NIH biosketch will look like an overachiever’s college application complete with an upcoming NIH-imposed section on obstacles you have overcome. • Introverted scientists JUST HATE IT. • Data-driven scientists JUST HATE IT. • Weigh in on Rock Talk. It’s a pilot, and they will be doing lots of

surveying of beta testers.

Process

• This month, NIH will launch a second round of pilot tests of the modified format.

• You will be allowed to include a link to complete list of publications in SciENcv or My Bibliography.

• Later this year; updates SciENcv to help researchers collect the information needed to generate biosketches using the new format

• Goal is to roll out modified format for all applications received for FY 2016 funding (i.e., applications submitted in Jan 2015).

Which raises the question… What is SciENcv?

A beta project released last September that helps you assemble an NIH biosketch by extracting information from NIH eRA Commons and PubMed. It also lets you link the content of your profiles to a persistent, unique identifier offered by ORCID.

SciENcv

I am sure everyone has heard or expressed something similar to:

• “Why do I have to keep reentering the same data into federal grant systems?”

• “Why does each separate federal grants system have its own format requirements for bio-sketches?”

• “Why can’t the federal grant-related reporting requirements use the same data that I’ve already entered into a federal system?”

• “I already maintain my profile data in my system of choice. Why can’t I simply point to that as a source of information for my CV?”

• “The administrative burden is far too large when dealing with the government.” The Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) is hoping to address these concerns

What is SciENcv?

Who: SciENcv is governed by an interagency working group including representatives from DOD, DOE, EPA, NIH, NSF, Smithsonian, and USDA under the Research Business Models and Science of Science Policy Committees Initial Goal: Create/maintain biosketches for grant applications

FDP Role: Leverage the resources of the FDP to ensure that the system being developed addresses the concerns of faculty and staff at research institutions and does so in the least burdensome way possible. FDP Pilot: Generate biosketches in NIH-specific format for application submission by interacting with exiting NIH systems Where: SciENcv is available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/account/ Documentation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK154494/ Progress: Alpha testing started in late July-August, 2013. A public beta began in September, 2013. Version 2.0 was released May 8th, 2014.

SciENcv: Long-term vision

Slide content courtesy of Debbie Bucci, HHS

SciENcv: Initial vision

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

SciENcv: Public beta launch

ORCID eRA Commons

NCBI My Bibliography

Inputs NIH Biosketch

Output

IDs Name

Affiliation Education

Honors Awards

Personal Statement Contributions

Grants Publications

Collaborators Patents

etc.

SciENcv

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

ORCID iD: Why?

More than 1000 journals now request the ORCID iD

Publishers include: • AGU • APS • Elsevier • Cambridge UP • Nature • Oxford UP • PLOS • PNAS • Wiley

And many more. . . .

Universities are starting to use ORCID iDs in • Researcher Information Systems • Institutional Repositories • Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETDs) • Campus directories (LDAP) • Record creation for faculty and students • Tracking future career outcomes for their faculty

and students

Professional Societies SfN—membership management

A persistent identifier benefits researchers & organizations

• Distinguishes them from all other researchers • The unique ORCID identifier stays with researchers

throughout their careers • Connects them reliably with their research outputs • Improves discoverability of their research

Slide content courtesy of Dr. Rebecca Bryant, ORCID

SciENcv: growth since public beta launch

Total Profiles

Linked with eRA Commons

Linked with ORCiD

Num

ber o

f pro

files

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

ORCID: http://orcid.org/

ORCID Organization is a non-profit, non-proprietary, open, and community-driven entity with a global, interdisciplinary reach that provides the ORCID iD The ORCID iD is:

• A unique, persistent identifier for researchers & scholars • Free to researchers • Can be used throughout one’s career, across professional activities, disciplines, nations &

languages

Publishing 27%

[CATEGORY NAME]

[PERCENTAGE]

Funders 7%

Associations 15%

Repositories & Profile Sys

12%

ORCID has issued over 680,000 iDs world wide since its launch in October 2012

Slide content courtesy of Dr. Rebecca Bryant, ORCID

Texas A&M is creating ORCID iDs for: • 10,000+ grad students • All postdocs • All faculty

SciENcv: main page

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

SciENcv: NIH biosketch page

Metadata & options

Biosketch form

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

SciENcv: populating data from linked sources

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

Pick list can dynamically update via feed.

SciENcv selecting publications

Show/hide pick list

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

SciENcv selecting funding

Show/hide pick list

Award data feeds

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

SciENcv PDF export

Slide content courtesy of Bart Trawick, PhD, National Library of Medicine

SciENcv: What is next?

• Add ability to create NSF biosketches

• Interface with NSF systems for pre-population of SciENcv

• Allow delegates to create/maintain SciENcv profiles

• Add additional output options such as plain text, MS Word

• Allow ingest of publications and other research products from ORCID or another external data source

• Add support for additional agencies

• Add more external profile/citation sources

• Add support for enhanced NIH biosketch

• Develop networking aspect?

Acknowledgements

Thanks to David Robinson, PhD, for the slides from the FDP

Thanks to M Dawn McArthur, PhD Head, Research & Technology Development

Child & Family Research Institute U of British Columbia & BC Children’s Hospital, for the samples of significance of contribution

(handout)