Justification Memo for 0925-0001 Biosketch Changes

DATE: September 26, 2014

TO: Harvey Fort

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Reports Clearance Officer, DHHS

FROM: Seleda M. Perryman

Chief, Project Clearance Branch

SUBJECT: Change Request to a Currently Approved Biosketch Forms

(OMB # 0925-0001 Expiration Date 08/31/2015)

NIH is requesting a non-substantive change of instructions and forms to the Biosketch forms under 0925-0001 which were originally modified and approved by OMB in June 2013.. The forms were modified based on the revised instructions. The NIH is requesting approval for a slight update of the format and content of the NIH biosketch forms that are submitted with various grant applications and progress reports.

The parts of the biosketch that are being modified will allow the NIH to collect valuable information that will inform reviewers and NIH staff about the accomplishments and capabilities of extramural scientists. The modifications will allow reviewers to better assess the ability of particular researchers to carry out the proposed projects.

Specifically, the modification will expand the information available beyond the current list of publications, instead offering applicants and other researchers an opportunity to describe their scientific contributions. By expanding the number of pages in the biosketch from four to five, researchers will be able to include descriptions of up to five of their most important discoveries allowing them to outline the central finding(s) of their work, the influence of those finding(s) on their field and how those findings may have advanced science or contributed to improvements in health or technology.

For those involved in team science, the new format will allow an investigator to describe their specific role in the described work. Each of these descriptions can be supported by listing up to four, relevant publications or other research products like patents or data sets. In addition to the descriptions of their contributions, researchers will be able to include a link to a full list of their published work as found in a publicly available digital database such as MyBibliography or SciENcv. Together this will provide a more complete picture of those who apply for NIH support and will allow reviewers and NIH officials to make more informed decisions about the quality of particular applications.

Finally, the revision will help illuminate the downstream effects of scientific discovery.

Per the program, the modification will not increase the currently approved burden hours. The burden hours under this clearance are averaged and allows for slight modifications of the clearance.

Attachments: Contain the revised instructions and examples of the affected modified forms based on the revised instructions.

Your full consideration is appreciated.