Rock Talk: Biosketch Changes and New Efforts to Maximize Fairness in Peer Review

Changes to the Biosketch

We’re set for a major change in how you portray your body of work when applying for NIH funds. With strong support from NIH leadership, we will be rolling out a new biosketch format. The new NIH biosketch emphasizes your accomplishments instead of just a list of publications, which, as previously discussed, we questioned as the best way to showcase your scientific contributions…..

The new format, completely described on the SF424 (R&R) Applications and Electronic Submission Page, will allow up to five pages for the entire biosketch, and researchers will be permitted to describe up to five of their most significant contributions to science, the influence of their contributions on their scientific field, and any subsequent effects of those contributions on health or technology. The new format also will allow researchers to describe their specific role in those discoveries and to annotate their description with up to four publications.

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New Efforts to Maximize Fairness in Peer Review

We want you to know NIH is working on multiple fronts to get to the bottom of unexplained racial disparities in R01 grant funding and to maximize fairness in NIH peer review. Since the problems and the solutions are bigger than NIH, we have reached out to the scientific community and other concerned citizens for help. Now armed with a team of experts and a set of new initiatives, we’d like to tell you about our efforts to address this important issue –- particularly an exciting opportunity for you to submit your input.

Earlier this month, NIH’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR) launched two America COMPETES Act challenges to help identify new methods to detect bias in peer review and strategies to strengthen fairness and impartiality in peer review. We will award a first place ($10,000) and a second place ($5,000) prize in both competitions. The contests close June 30, 2014, and winners will be announced September 2. You can find details on the rules and submission procedures for these two challenges on the CSR Challenge website.

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Rock Talk is a blog by Dr. Sally Rockey, NIH’s Deputy Director of Extramural Funding.