Biosketch – Quick Reference Guide

The Biosketch must be completed using the Canadian Common CV (CCV) interface, and will be used to assist peer-reviewers in determining whether an applicant has the necessary skills and experience required to conduct the proposed research described in the grant application. For that reason, all information placed in the Biosketch should be directly relevant to the grant application.

Please note the following important items related to the CCV and the Biosketch:

  • In an attempt to ensure consistency across CVs, many of the fields in the CCV have been made mandatory. This may cause a need to include additional information to your CV (which will show up as ʺerrorsʺ in the CCV) when you open the Biosketch template. Please ensure that you give yourself ample time to update your CV.
  • Limits have been placed in certain sections. Before you submit your Biosketch, please ensure that you have selected the relevant entries in each section that you want included in your CV. For more information regarding how to choose certain entries in the different CV sections, please refer to CCV Frequently Asked Questions for CIHR Applicants.

The Biosketch consists of seven sections. The Personal Information section is used by CIHR staff to allow collection of personal information for administrative purposes. This information will not be shared with peer reviewers. The sections relevant to adjudication/peer-review include Education, Recognitions, Employment, Research Funding History, Contributions and Activities. Below you will find a brief description of the information required in each of the sections. Please populate each section of your CCV with information that is most relevant to your grant application.

1. Personal information

Please provide personal information such as Name, Address, and Contact Information. This information will be used for administrative purposes only.

Note

  • Peer-reviewers will only have access to your name (no other personal information).

2. Education

Degrees (No maximum)

Enter your degrees and diplomas conferred from academic institutions with the start/end dates of your degrees.

Credentials (Most relevant – up to 5)

Describe any credentials you have obtained that relate to your ability to successfully complete the proposed research.

A credential is defined as a designation earned to assure qualification to perform a job or task such as a certification, an accreditation, etc. Examples of a credential might include a professional license or a trade certificate.

3. Recognitions (Most relevant - up to 5)

Please list any relevant acknowledgements, achievements, and/or rewards you have obtained and which are relatable to your research. List the title of the recognition, the organization bestowing the recognition, as well as the effective date.

Recognitions can be filled out based on the following categories:

  • Prizes and Awards (e.g. New Investigator Award, Canada research Chair, University research Award, etc.)
  • Distinctions (e.g. Membership in professional societies, Board of Directors in professional societies, etc.)
  • Honors (e.g. honorary citizen, honorary degree, Order of Canada, etc.)

4. Employment

Employment experience (No maximum)

Provide information regarding your current and past academic and/or non-academic work experience. Any non-academic work experience included in this section should relate to the research being proposed in the application.

Affiliations (Maximum of 1)

Provide information regarding your primary affiliation. CIHR requires this information in order to determine an individual’s primary institution, so please ensure that the affiliation you include here reflects your primary institution.

Leaves of absence/Impact on research (No maximum)

Describe how any leaves of absences (e.g., parental, bereavement, medical, etc.) from your research activities affected your research program, your progress/productivity/impact, and/or the dissemination of your research results.

5. Research funding history

On-going grants

Please list all on-going grants that you currently hold as a principal investigator/principal knowledge user, as a co-investigator/co-knowledge user, or as a collaborator. Information will be collected on the organization bestowing the grant, the grant program, the amount of the grant, other investigators involved in the grant, and the funding start/end date.

Note

  • Amounts should be reported in Canadian dollars (CDN$).

Completed grants (Last 5 years based on funding end date)

Please list all grants that are now completed, but that have an end date within the past 5 years where you were a principal investigator/ principal knowledge user, a co-investigator/co-knowledge user, or a collaborator. Information will be collected on the organization bestowing the grant, the grant program, the amount of the grant, other investigators involved in the grant, and the funding start/end date.

Notes

  • Amounts should be reported in Canadian dollars (CDN$).
  • The 5 year limit is calculated based on the end date of the grant, not the starting date.

Declined/Under review

Please do not include funding that you were awarded, but declined, or funding applications that are currently under review.

6. Contributions

CIHR is a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which recognizes the need to improve the ways in which the outputs of research are evaluated. Applicants are invited to consider a broad range of contributions and impacts to highlight in their applications, for example: publications and citations, reports and books, prestigious awards, knowledge mobilization outputs & activities, influence on policy and practice, public engagement (including public, patients, providers, policymakers/government, researchers, industry, mainstream and social media), community-based participatory research, training & mentorship, guidelines, standards, software and tools, networks, collaborations and partnerships, datasets, code and infrastructure development commercialized and open-access products, etc.

Publications (Last 7 years)

Please list your publications from the last 7 years in the form of: Journal Articles, Books, Book Chapters, Reports, Manuals, Clinical Care Guidelines, and/or Conference Publications.

Notes

  • The limit in this section applies across all publications types. The publications you select to submit with your CV can include journal articles, books, book chapters, etc. The combination of publication types you choose to include is at your discretion and should represent the significance of your achievements.
  • Conference publications should include all presentations where an abstract, poster, or short paper was published in conference proceedings following a peer-review process.
  • More publication fields are mandatory compared to the Academic CV. Therefore, some of your publications may have ʺerrorsʺ due to missing mandatory information. Please note that you will only need to update entries from the last 7 years (the ones you would like to submit with your CV). The rest do not need to be updated.
  • Please see the FAQ section for instructions on how to select only certain publication entries to submit.
  • Please see the FAQ section for instructions on how to bulk import publications from PubMed and other sources.

Intellectual property (Most relevant – up to 5)

Please list your most relevant intellectual property rights in the form of Patents, Licenses, Disclosures, Registered Copyrights, and/or Trademarks.

Presentations (Most relevant – up to 5)

Please list relevant scientific or non-scientific presentations (e.g., invited presentations, lay presentations, presentations to government/policy-makers) that were based on your research.

Notes

  • In the co-presenter field, make sure to include your name (if you do not, your name will not show up in the citation in the PDF version of your CV).
  • In the co-presenter field, list the name(s) of any other individual(s) who presented with you, but do not include the names of individuals who might have been involved in the research (e.g. co-author).

7. Activities

Knowledge and technology mobilization activities (Most relevant – up to 5)

Include the Knowledge and Technology Translation activities that best relate to the work described in your application. Please ensure to provide information regarding:

  • The development of KT approaches for application / uptake / dissemination of research findings;
  • Occasions where you have been able to translate your work into the real world;
  • Occasions where you have developed prevention / intervention programs based on your research work;
  • Occasions where you have created/built spin-off companies based on your research discoveries;
  • Occasions where you have developed standards / guidelines / etc. based on your research findings.

Notes:

Supervisory activities (Most relevant – up to 10)

Please provide information regarding how you have helped to mentor/train the future of highly skilled health researchers by indicating the individuals you have supervised/co-supervised. Individuals included in this section can include students, trainees, post-doctoral fellows, lab volunteers, etc.

Notes

  • Do not include students you may have supervised as part of an undergraduate course.
  • Please indicate where the individuals you trained are now. If you do not know, please put ʺN/Aʺ in the ʺPresent Positionʺ field.
  • More fields are mandatory compared to the Academic CV. Therefore, some of your supervisory activities may have errors due to missing information. Please note that you will only need to update a maximum of 10 entries (the ones you would like to submit with your CV). The rest do not need to be updated.
  • Please see the FAQ section for instructions on how to select only certain entries for submission with your CV.

If you are experiencing problems, or have more questions, please contact CIHR at support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca or 1-888-603-4178 to request assistance.

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