v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 714 entries across 20 domains · CC-BY 4.0714 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack AStablev2026.2

Biosketch

A short, structured biographical document used in US federal research grant applications (most notably NIH and NSF) summarising a researcher's qualifications, positions, contributions, and a curated subset of their outputs, in a tightly page-limited format.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A five-page NIH Biosketch with one-page personal statement and five 'Contributions to Science' entries

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A 30-page CV with full publication list is not a biosketch in the NIH/NSF sense

Editorial commentary

The NIH Biosketch (revised 2015, 2021) includes a ‘Personal Statement’ (narrative section justifying the researcher’s role on the proposed project), ‘Positions and Honors’, ‘Contributions to Science’ (up to five contributions with selected outputs), and ongoing/recent support. NSF Biosketch (revised via SciENcv) is structurally similar.

References

NIH Biosketch Instructions (2021 revision)
NSF Biographical Sketch via SciENcv

Also known as

NIH Biosketch · NSF Biosketch

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Biosketch"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/biosketch" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Biosketch",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/biosketch",
  "description": "A short, structured biographical document used in US federal research grant applications (most notably NIH and NSF) summarising a researcher's qualifications, positions, contributions, and a curated subset of their outputs, in a tightly page-limited format.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/mentorship-training-and-career-stages/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/biosketch",
  "sameAs": [
    "NIH Biosketch",
    "NSF Biosketch"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

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