Is SciENcv Saving the World?
On August 25, 2023, the SRAI Southern California Chapter held a Chapter Chat discussing SciENcv: what it is, how to use it, and the challenges faced by research administrators and researchers in transitioning to this tool. As a useful exercise, we felt it valuable to share with the larger SRAI community.
The National Library of Medicine defines SciENcv as, “A researcher profile system for all individuals who apply for, receive, or are associated with research investments from federal agencies. The SciENcv utility is a cooperative project requested by the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP), which is an association of academic research institutions and federal agencies. In collaboration with the FDP, SciENcv was built by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Institutes of Health under the aegis of an interagency workgroup.” Operationally, SciENcv is a tool provided by the Federal government to create, access, and archive investigator biosketches, other support documents, and curriculum vitae for NSF and NIH. The system links with MyNCBI and ORCID to pull in award data and publications into the biosketch and the NSF other support format. The system functionality is user-friendly, especially for those familiar with other Federal research administration tools.
The attendees discussed the challenges in migrating to this new system, specifically encouraging investigators to become early adopters to avoid the need to learn the system immediately preceding a grant deadline. With NSF requiring use of the system effective October 23, 2023, the need to train and utilize SciENCv is imminent. Suggestions to help users learn the system included in-house webinars, creating quick “how to” videos, sitting down 1:1 with investigators to get them started, and assignment of an administrative staff member to assist with the preparation. (Note: SciENcv allows delegates to be assigned, although the functionality with MyNCBI is more limited.)
Attendees also discussed the benefits of SciENcv; importantly that it allows a centralized system so there will be no version control questions. For instance, a mentor version of the biosketch can be created in SciENcv, ready to update for the next application when that researcher acts as a mentor, as in fellowship and career award applications for postdoctoral fellows. Another benefit is continued migration away from individual files held on desktops, and the long-needed centralization and creation of a repository for national use. Indeed, a link to an existing biosketch in SciENcv may be shared publicly, a setting within this tool. Attendees agreed that the transition may be hazardous for some, notably the need for investigators to better maintain their MyNCBI publication list, so that these pull through correctly into SciENcv.
Finally, the question of whether SciENcv will save the world was raised. Attendees felt it would! The philosophy recalls the pre-ERA days when paper copies were required for submissions; noting how far we’ve come since then. We have emerged into a world of electronic research administration. We envisioned use of other emerging tools like ChatGPT, speculating how this tool could also assist with biosketch preparation and potential integration with this online tool, easing the burden on faculty (at least as a reference or first draft tool). Thus, SciENcv will save the world … the world of research administration, and the daily tasks involved to get a proposal out the door.
Mark Lucas, CRA, Chief Administrative Officer, Department of Neurobiology
University of California Los Angeles
Elonna Marci, CRA, Senior Grants Administrator
Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla