Grant P. Writer's thoughts on NIH Biosketch Personal Statement: First or third person?

Consistently, one of the most popular posts on this blog is this post from 2011 when the new Personal Statement was added to Section A. of the NIH biographical sketch (biosketch). When writing the personal statement for the first time, new researchers are often confused about whether to write in first or third person. While either is allowed, I recommend writing in the first person.

This week, I thought about the first vs. third person biosketch question for personal statements. A colleague was interviewing several candidates for an open position. One candidate stood out, but not for the best reason. The candidate consistently spoke about themself in the third person. Imagine that every time you ask Dr. Cool Guy a question, they respond with "Dr. Cool Guy has expertise in all of those techniques," or "The way Dr. Cool Guy sees it, this area of scientific inquiry is the wave of the future." It is both peculiar and annoying.

Perhaps this is something individuals are used to if they work with Hollywood celebrities or famous athletes. For example, Alice Cooper and LeBron James are examples of celebrities who are notorious for talking about themselves in the third person during interviews. However, this is not typical in academia, where coming across as too self-important may decrease your opportunities for collaboration. 

Many academics, particularly junior faculty, are fighting imposter syndrome. Others are comparing themselves to Nobel Prize winners and feeling less confident in their successes. In the era of team science, being the person with the biggest ego is not seen as a strength, and so at least in my experience, it is the collegial and humble scientist who is often the most revered. 

Now back to the job candidate situation. When interviewing for a job, would you speak about yourself in the third person? Do you routinely talk about yourself in third person during normal conversations? For most people, the answer would be no. It can be grating and poorly received. That said, the personal statement will be read by reviewers who are considering funding your research. Obviously, your Specific Aims and Research Strategy will have the most weight in your application score. However, why take a chance on turning off the reviewers if your personal statement seems too impersonal? Stick with the first person and tell them why you are the most qualified individual to lead your proposed project.

Start off on the right foot with your biosketch

When it comes to "Section A. Personal Statement", researchers seem to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to write.  After all, how do you sum up your qualifications and expertise in one brief paragraph?  It is like some kind of exercise you might have done in an undergraduate Philosophy course.  Surprisingly, although many of the visitors to this blog are looking for advice on writing their personal statements, they do not seem to be putting the same amount of time into making sure they are using the correct form. 

Are you working on your biosketch right now?  Look at the top right corner.  If there isn't a header that says "OMB No. 0925-0001/0002 (Rev. 08/12 Approved Through 8/31/2015)", then you are not using the correct form.  Find the current correct NIH biosketch format page here.

The Cardinal Rule of Biographical Sketch Personal Statements

Although the personal statement section of the biosketch is still relatively new, I believe there is one simple rule that will help to ensure your statement is helpful to your application.  The rule is:
Your personal statement should NOT be a summary of everything that comes after it in the biosketch document.
It may seem intuitive to use the first paragraph on the page to provide an overview of what is to follow.  After all, this is what is expected of you in other sections of the proposal.  However, you are missing a serious opportunity to sell yourself if you only reiterate your degrees and past grant awards.  Reviewers should come away from your personal statement feeling as though they understand you as a scientist - your motivations, the questions that drive your passions, and the expertise you offer that makes you the perfect person for this project.  A list of your degrees will not serve this purpose.  Take a lesson from some of the more aggressive infomercials on television, and sell yourself in a way that is convincing and persuasive.  Here is some inspiration from Pajama Jeans:

If they can sell thousands of pairs of ridiculous looking pajama pants that look like jeans, you can certainly sell yourself as an accomplished and capable scientist.

NIH is planning to change the biosketch requirements - again!

In case you missed the May 16th notice, I will fill you in.  NIH has been piloting a new type of biographical sketch with modified requirements for some RFAs.  They are now planning to expand the pilot, with an ultimate goal of permanently changing the requirements for all biosketches.  According to the notice, the new requirements "will extend the page limit from four to five pages and it will allow researchers to describe up to five of their most significant contributions to science along with the historical background that framed their research.   This description can outline the central finding(s) of their work, the influence of those finding(s) on their field and how those findings may have contributed to improvements in health or technology.  For those involved in team science, it will allow the investigator to describe their specific role in the described work.  Each of these descriptions can be supported by listing up to four, relevant peer-reviewed publications.  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".  This will require investigators to pay more attention to their biosketches, instead of handing them off to assistants or post-docs for updating.  However, considering how many people have still not adjusted to the Personal Statement and PMCID requirements, I wonder how long it will take for this type of major change to become ingrained in the minds of scientists. 

Help with biosketches is on the way!

Responding to complaints from researchers about the tedious work required to create and maintain an updated biographical sketch, NIH is in the process of developing a new system to help with these documents. The SciENcv system can currently be accessed in Beta version through myNCBI. Test drive the system and share your experience in the Comments section below!

Copy and Paste are not always your friends when it comes to your Biosketch

I understand the pressure that most PIs and Investigators are under to get their proposals completed on time.  You are juggling multiple priorities, including teaching, maybe other research projects, and a variety of personal issues in addition to trying to meet your grant deadline.  So it is not surprising that, when it comes to your NIH Biographical Sketch, you simply copy and paste from previous renditions to create a new-ish biosketch for whichever proposal you are working on. 

Bad idea.  Your laziness could prove disastrous to the entire proposal, for a variety of reasons.  First, let's say that you haven't taken the time to update your list of publications in the past 2-3 years. Reviewers are busy people too.  They don't have the time to look you up in PubMed and try to figure out if you have any more recent publications.  If they aren't listed, it is going to look like you haven't had any publications in a while, and perhaps give them the impression that you are not a very productive researcher.  Why give research dollars to someone who doesn't produce?

Now, on to the Personal Statement.  This relatively new requirement has confused and perplexed many researchers.  Some seem to view it almost as a personal ad, including many details of their career goals and interests.  Others give it very little attention, creating generic 2-3 sentence summaries of their research focus that provide no actual substance.  The biggest mistake, however, is the copying and pasting of personal statements from one proposal to another.  To truly write a tailored personal statement, one should focus on the goals of the project at hand, and describe in 1-2 paragraphs why he or she has the right experience for this type of project and why he or she is the perfect person for his or her proposed role on the project.  In other words, you need to convey: I am an expert at _____, based on my background of _____, and I am the perfect person to do ____ on this project.   To truly make a good case for this, and convey it appropriately to the reviewers, you can't simply paste something in from another proposal.   

What do reviewers want to learn from my NIH Biographical sketch?

Often, new researchers search for NIH biosketch tips and tricks to help them to best showcase their accomplishments.  The question you should be asking is not "How can I best impress reviewers?" but, rather, "What do reviewers need to know?".  The biosketch portion of the grant application exists not to convince reviewers to hire you for a job, like a regular resume would, but to provide reviewers with adequate information to score your application. 

According to the Center for Scientific Review, the following criteria are used by reviewers in creating the Investigator portion of your score:

Investigator(s). Are the PD/PIs, collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or New Investigators, or in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?

As you create and review your personal statement and lists of positions and publications, ask yourself these questions.  Reviewing the biosketches of your research team members will also help you to determine whether you are presenting the picture of an experienced research team that has appropriate leadership and expertise to complete the proposed project. 

Volunteering for a local nonprofit is wonderful, and you deserve a pat on the back.  However, if the nonprofit is focused on cancer research and your project will examine cicadas, listing your volunteer effforts on your biosketch is not likely to sway reviewers. Stick to what is relevant and helps to answer the questions listed above. 

NIH Biosketch Personal Statement - First or Third Person?

One of the major changes to NIH biographical sketches is the addition of Section A, the personal statement. NIH does not specify whether to write the personal statement on the biosketch in 1st or 3rd person. It seems that either way is acceptable. The example provided by NIH includes a personal statement that is written in 1st person as follows:

A. Personal Statement
The goal of the proposed research is to investigate the interaction between drug abuse and normal aging processes. Specifically, we plan to measure changes in cognitive ability and mental and physical health across a five-year period in a group of older drug users and matched controls. I have the expertise, leadership and motivation necessary to successfully carry out the proposed work. I have a broad background in psychology, with specific training and expertise in key research areas for this application. As a postdoctoral fellow at Berkeley, I carried out ethnographic and survey research and secondary data analysis on psychological aspects of drug addiction. At the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), I expanded my research to include neuropsychological changes associated with addiction. As PI or co-Investigator on several university- and NIH-funded grants, I laid the groundwork for the proposed research by developing effective measures of disability, depression, and other psychosocial factors relevant to the aging substance abuser, and by establishing strong ties with community providers that will make it possible to recruit and track participants over time. In addition, I successfully administered the projects (e.g. staffing, research protections, budget), collaborated with other researchers, and produced several peer-reviewed publications from each project. As a result of these previous experiences, I am aware of the importance of frequent communication among project members and of constructing a realistic research plan, timeline, and budget. The current application builds logically on my prior work, and I have chosen co-investigators (Drs. Gryczynski and Newlin) who provide additional expertise in cognition, gerontology and geriatrics. During 2005-2006 my career was disrupted due to family obligations. However, upon returning to the field I immediately resumed my research projects and collaborations and successfully competed for NIH support. In summary, I have a demonstrated record of accomplished and productive research projects in an area of high relevance for our aging population, and my expertise and experience have prepared me to lead the proposed project.

Of course, the same paragraph could also have been written in the 3rd person to convey the same message.

A. Personal Statement
The goal of the proposed research is to investigate the interaction between drug abuse and normal aging processes. Specifically, the research team plans to measure changes in cognitive ability and mental and physical health across a five-year period in a group of older drug users and matched controls. Dr. PI has the expertise, leadership and motivation necessary to successfully carry out the proposed work. She has a broad background in psychology, with specific training and expertise in key research areas for this application. As a postdoctoral fellow at Berkeley, Dr. PI carried out ethnographic and survey research and secondary data analysis on psychological aspects of drug addiction. At the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), she expanded her research to include neuropsychological changes associated with addiction. As PI or co-Investigator on several university- and NIH-funded grants, she laid the groundwork for the proposed research by developing effective measures of disability, depression, and other psychosocial factors relevant to the aging substance abuser, and by establishing strong ties with community providers that will make it possible to recruit and track participants over time. In addition, Dr. PI successfully administered the projects (e.g. staffing, research protections, budget), collaborated with other researchers, and produced several peer-reviewed publications from each project. As a result of these previous experiences, Dr. PI is aware of the importance of frequent communication among project members and of constructing a realistic research plan, timeline, and
budget. The current application builds logically on her prior work, and she has chosen co-investigators (Drs. Gryczynski and Newlin) who provide additional expertise in cognition, gerontology and geriatrics. During 2005-2006, Dr. PI's career was disrupted due to family obligations. However, upon returning to the field, she immediately resumed her research projects and collaborations and successfully competed for NIH support. In summary, Dr. PI has a demonstrated record of accomplished and productive research projects in an area of high relevance for our aging population, and her expertise and experience have prepared her to lead the proposed project.

As with resume and CV preparation, your choice of whether to submit personal statements in 1st or 3rd person is, well....personal. I do recommend, however, that all biosketches submitted with your proposal be consistent in their choice of 1st vs. 3rd person. It will create a more cohesive feel as reviewers examine the biosketches submitted with your proposal.

Read more NIH biographical sketch personal statement advice, including things to avoid, here.