PI / Faculty quickstart (15 minutes)

Do this now (before the first deadline)

  1. Create ORCID iD (if you don’t have one).
  2. Link ORCID to eRA Commons (Personal Profile → ORCID section).
  3. Confirm SciENcv access (MyNCBI dashboard → SciENcv).
  4. Confirm ORCID appears as the SciENcv PID and matches eRA Commons (link ORCID in MyNCBI/SciENcv, sign in with ORCID, or manually enter it in the PID field).
  5. Add a delegate (optional but recommended) (MyNCBI Account Settings → Delegates).
  6. Clean up My Bibliography (missing papers, wrong authorship, PMCID status).
  7. Pick your 10 “Products”:
    • 5 “Closely Related” (to support your Personal Statement)
    • 5 “Other Significant” (to support your Contributions)
  8. Draft or update:
    • Personal Statement (3,500 characters; no citations)
    • Up to 5 Contributions (2,000 characters each; no citations)
    • Honors (up to 15)
  9. Certify + download required PDFs in SciENcv (always the biosketch; CPOS when NIH requests it for your role and submission type).
  10. Never print/flatten the SciENcv PDF.

For many NIH applications, CPOS is requested later (often during JIT) rather than attached at initial submission. Important exception: mentored career development applications require CPOS for mentor/co-mentor(s), not for the candidate.

flowchart TD
    accTitle: PI quickstart workflow
    accDescr: The PI workflow starts with identity checks, moves through data cleanup and drafting, then ends with individual certification and unmodified PDF handling.
    A["Identity checks<br/>eRA, ORCID, SciENcv PID"] --> B["My Bibliography cleanup"]
    B --> C["Pick 10 Products"]
    C --> D["Draft narratives and honors"]
    D --> E{"CPOS requested now?"}
    E -- "Yes" --> F["Build CPOS in SciENcv"]
    E -- "No" --> G["Track for JIT, RPPR, or Prior Approval"]
    F --> H["Certify and download required PDFs"]
    G --> H
    H --> I["Do not print or flatten"]

When an admin helps

Your delegate can do almost everything except certification. Plan a “certify window” into the submission timeline.

Next: Create the biosketch document in SciENcv