Narrative CVs
Introduction
A narrative CV (Curriculum Vitae) is a structured, written description of a researcher’s contributions and impact. Instead of limiting the CV to listing quantitative outputs or metrics, researchers can describe their roles, achievements, and influence across different aspects of their work. This approach aims to value the diverse activities that advance knowledge, training, and engagement.
This guide provides curated resources to help faculty and researchers plan and write narrative CVs.
The Canadian Context: Tri-Agency CV (TCV)
This section highlights how the narrative CV approach is being implemented across Canadian research funding programs and what researchers can expect when applying to Tri-Agency competitions in the coming years. Like many international funding agencies, Canada’s three federal granting agencies are gradually transitioning to narrative CVs as part of their commitment to recognizing a broader range of research contributions. This shift aims to better capture the diverse contributions of applicants.
About the Transition to TCV
In October 2024, the three Canadian federal granting agencies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) announced that they would be gradually transitioning from the Canadian Common CV (CCV) to a narrative-style CV called the Tri-Agency CV (TCV). This transition aimed to allow researchers to highlight a wide range of research outputs and describe their career trajectories in more detail to support their funding applications.
TCV rollout timeline: SSHRC first required TCVs for the 2025 Impact Awards competition, NSERC requires TCVs for Discovery Horizons applications, and CIHR announced in October 2025 that they will introduce the new TCV to the Project Grant program no sooner than for the Spring 2027 competition. Faculty and researchers should review specific funding opportunity announcements to determine whether a TCV is currently required.
Components of the TCV
The TCV has three core components:
- Personal statement: Describes why you are well suited for your proposed role in the application.
- Most significant contributions and experiences: Describes up to 10 important contributions or experiences that relate to your application.
- Supervisory and mentorship activities: Describes how you have helped mentor or train future generations.
Tri-Agency TCV Resources
This section provides resources and instructions from the Tri-Agency on writing a TCV. Although some resources were developed by individual granting agencies (i.e., CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC), the content may be relevant to all Tri-Agency funding opportunities.
This CIHR webpage highlights key features of the TCV, and links to instructions, templates, and resources for completing and reviewing a TCV
This webinar provides detailed guidance on how to prepare a TCV for research funding applications to CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC. The webinar helps applicants understand how to frame experiences, quantify contributions, and align them with the evaluation criteria of Tri-Agency programs.
This webpage provides responses to frequently asked questions about how and why the TCV was developed, how to complete and format a TCV, and who to contact for additional support.
This NSERC webpage presents guidelines on how contributions to research and training and mentoring are assessed, which helps applicants understand how to effectively frame their experiences in a TCV.
The CRC program uses Narrative CV as part of its application form. This is a direct link to the form (2025).
Writing a Narrative CV
Writing a narrative CV involves translating achievements into a cohesive story about your research and scholarly contributions and influence. The goal is to connect activities, outcomes, and values rather than listing items.
Writing Resources
This section provides resources for writing strong narrative CVs, including specific guidance for TCV sections.
This document guides researchers through the transition to narrative CVs by dispelling myths and providing practical strategies for getting started, selecting meaningful examples, and balancing emphasizing your accomplishments with not appearing too modest.
This document provides step-by-step guidance on writing a narrative CV. It includes writing prompts, examples, and a useful phrase bank to support clear and impactful writing.
This document includes advice on TCV structure and tone (e.g., first-person, concise, impactful). Researchers will also find writing prompts (including for Early Career Researchers), sample statements for all three sections of the TCV, and additional resources.
This webpage offers concrete guidance for writing “Most Significant Contributions” statements – listing relevant activities, tailoring selections for funding competitions, writing in clear, plain language, and combining qualitative and quantitative evidence.
This column, written for University Affairs, is particularly useful for faculty who are seeking both structural models and tone guidance in developing a narrative CV for Tri-Agency funding calls. Henville offers practical guidance for structuring a narrative CV and outlines expectations for key sections: Research and Contributions, Training and Mentorship, and the Personal Statement.
When writing their narrative CV, researchers can use evidence such as citation counts to strengthen their narrative CV, particularly when describing their most significant contributions and experiences. This Guide, created by the CRIS team, discusses strategies for maximizing citations, what to consider when choosing where to publish your research for impact, and how citations relate to reputation as a scholar and institution globally.
Broader Perspectives and International Contexts
Narrative CVs are part of a wider movement toward responsible research assessment and recognition of diverse scholarly contributions and alternative metrics of measuring such contributions. Researchers and organizations globally have shared opportunities and challenges of this evolving format. Various norms around using, writing and evaluating narrative CVs are being shaped in the global academic community. Researchers are encouraged to always check specific funding bodies’ requirements. The resources included below offer broader perspectives on the narrative CV and their use in additional geographical contexts.
Additional Resources
This section offers additional resources on tackling a narrative CV.
This blog post, written from the UK context, but applicable globally, is useful for faculty writing narrative CVs, reviewers assessing narrative CVs, and research offices supporting narrative CV requirements. It addresses the unspoken or ‘hidden curriculum’ of the narrative CV going beyond ‘how to write’ this document to address key cultural and equity implications of the narrative CV.
The BioSketch is an NIH-specific document that shares elements that are like the narrative CV. Requirements, Sections, and Examples are available on the NIH website.
A curated Padlet of predominately UK-based resources about the narrative CV. Includes commentaries on the utility of narrative CVs to how to craft compelling versions for specific funding calls. Created by the University of Leeds.