Narrative CV
This page will be updated regularly as more Information becomes available
A narrative CV is defined by the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) as a CV format that provides a structured written description of a person’s contributions and achievements that reflects a broad range of relevant skills and experiences, more than can often be seen in a traditional academic CV.
The Tri-Agencies are trying to modernize the granting councils’ grants management systems to better support applicants, administrators, and reviewers. The Tri-Agency CV (TCV) was designed to be more inclusive of all applicant types, respond to usability needs, and reduce the administrative burden for applicants and reviewers.
A narrative CV, or Tri-Agency CV, is a narrative-style curriculum vitae with three sections:
- Personal statement;
- Why are you well suited to your proposed role?
- Most significant contributions and experiences; and
- What are your most significant contributions and/or experiences that are relevant to this particular funding application?
- Supervisory and mentorship activities.
- How have you mentored and trained Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP)?
The key though is that it’s more than just a narration of your biography. It is meant to be a thoughtfully constructed illustration of your most significant achievements that are most impactful and relevant to the particular funding opportunity.
For more information, see the Tri-Agency CV frequently asked questions
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) announced that they will be transition from the Canadian Common CV to a new narrative-style CV for funding competitions, beginning in 2025.
"The new CV will prioritize written descriptions of an applicant’s research contributions, allowing users to highlight a wide range of research outputs and to describe their career trajectories in more detail. This format values societal research outcomes, such as influence on policy or mentorship, alongside more traditional research outputs like publications."
The Tri Agency CV is consistent with the three federal research funding agencies’ commitment to a more inclusive, diverse and holistic approach to excellence in research evaluation as signatories to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). The narrative-style tri-agency CV can be used as a tool to emphasize the quality and impact of research, thereby helping to reduce an over-reliance on quantitative indicators in the review process. It is designed to be more inclusive of all applicant types, respond to usability needs, and reduce administrative burden for applicants and reviewers.
The English version of the Tri-Agency CV must not exceed five (5) pages (six (6) pages for French). You can write as much as you need for each section as long as you don’t go over the total page limit.
The following must be included:
- Name
- Personal Statement
- Describe why you are well suited for your proposed role relevant to the application.
- Most significant contributions and experiences
- Describe up to 10 important contributions or experiences that relate to your application. Contributions described in the previous section can be used here.
- Explain the impact, significance, usefulness, and your role in each contribution or experience. A contribution does not have to be a single publication or report. This can include a collection of related publications.
- Supervisory and mentorship activities
- Describe how you have helped mentor or train future generations. This can include the development of highly qualified personnel for careers within and outside of academia.
Formatting must follow the formatting requirements:
- 12-point, Arial font in black type.
- You can apply different fonts and sizes only in tables, figures and legends. However, the text must be clear and readable when the page is displayed at its normal size of 100%. Do not use condensed fonts.
- Minimum of single line spacing (not narrow spacing).
- Normal/standard character spacing (not condensed).
- Minimum margin of 0.79″ (2 cm) around all pages.
- Size all pages to 8 ½″ x 11″ (216 mm x 279 mm).
- Before uploading, save/export your tri-agency CV as an unprotected PDF (i.e., one without security measures to lock or password protect the document).
- The size of the uploaded PDF cannot exceed 5 MB.
For more information, see Guidance for writing a narrative CV
Reviewers are asked to refer to the specific funding opportunity/program evaluation criteria in assessing the Tri Agency CV (TCV).
There are five categories of recommendations for reviewers:
- Preparation
- Quality and Impact
- Lived and living experience and non-linear career paths
- Limited opportunities for student and postdoctoral researcher training
- Self-contained information
The guidelines for reviewing the TCV are available from CIHR and SSHRC.
- CIHR Planning and Dissemination Grants
- CIHR Operating Grants
- CIHR Indigenous Centres for STBBI Research
- CIHR Team Grant - Pan-Canadian Network: Emerging LHS in Perinatal Mental Health
- CIHR Team Grant - Strengthening Resilient and Equitable Public Health Systems
- CIHR Canadian Council on Animal Care
- CIHR Partnering for Impact
- SSHRC Impact Awards
- SSHRC Policy Innovation Partnership Grants
- Indigenous Science and the Impacts of Plastic Pollution
- Indigenous Capacity and Leadership Connection Grant
- NSERC Discovery Horizons (pilot)
- Destination Horizon Grants
- 2026 Canada Excellence Research Chairs Competition
Research Impact Canada Narrative CV Resouces
Foundational Overview
- Tri-Agency Overview of the Narrative CV
Official introduction to the narrative CV format, including purpose and structure.
Webinars, Presentations & Recordings
- Concordia University Presentation (Dr. RIC Call in April 2025)
Presentation by Eli Friedland and Prem Sooriyakumar on the emerging Narrative CV landscape. Includes a recording and slide deck (recording will be made public soon, currently stored in RICs internal database). - Canadian Reproducibility Network & Canadian CoP on Responsible Research Assessment (Sept 25, 2025)
Webinar featuring University of Calgary (Raad Fadaak) and Concordia University (Eli Friedland) discussing the shift to narrative CVs. Includes the recording and slide deck.
Institutional TCV Resources
University of Winnipeg
University of Calgary Concordia University- Collection of Narrative CV guides and tools
- Narrative CV resources and support materials
Collaborative Platforms
- Peer Exchange Platform for Narrative-style CVs (PEP-CV)
A shared resource space developed through partnerships between funders and the research community to support narrative CV adoption and best practices.
Books
- Cornerstones of Impact Management. How to Plan, Implement, Assess and Understand Factors for Success – Edited by Anne-Maree Dowd, Thomas Keenan, Kathryn Graham
Other
- DORA Principles
The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) principles and the Narrative CV format are deeply interconnected. Both aim to transform how researchers and their contributions are evaluated by shifting away from narrow, metrics-driven assessment toward contextual, qualitative, and holistic evaluation.