In this assignment, you’ll create a specialized resume called a biosketch or annotate your current resume to identify your areas of specialized knowledge. It’s up to you which one you decide to do. A brief description of each option is below.
The purpose of this document is to provide a starting point for our Solicited Proposal project. If you are responding to a RFP that wants a biosketch, then awesome! You’re set. If your audience doesn’t require one, you will have material ready to drop into your discussion.
The turnaround on this assignment is intentionally short. I need time to provide feedback to you before we get into the Solicited Proposal assignment. At the end of the term, the final project will ask you to submit this document again, and you’re free to revise it before then.
Biosketch
A biosketch is a special type of resume often submitted along with large-scale research and development grant proposals. Instead of a work history, this document shows your specific set of expertises. It is meant to demonstrate that you can get certain kinds of projects done. While not every grant or funding opportunity requires a document like this, all will want to know your competencies and track record in a particular field. Having this document on hand makes it easier to include that material in a written proposal later on. You can read more about it at this link, and you can use this template to create one.
As students, we likely don’t have information for all of these sections, and that’s fine. If you choose to do one, the larger purpose here is to think about the specific kind of academic/professional training we’ve had and the projects we’ve completed (school projects or otherwise), and try to connect those to grant/funding opportunities as the course goes on.
- Your professional preparation typically covers academic coursework and very general training. It’s similar to the Education section of a resume.
- Your appointments section is not equivalent to work history. This section should cover any long-running jobs where you’ve applied your specialized knowledge or expertise. These should be things where you’ve performed a variety of tasks that are relevant to your specialty, but not tied up with a single project. Specific courses are acceptable to note here.
- Your Products section is where you should note any major projects you have applied your expertise to. These should be things that culminated in one product or outcome. They can be related to your appointments.
- The synergistic activities section is a little more challenging. This should list any groups that you are a member of, organizations that you support or other activities you engage in that are related to your expertise but that don’t fall into the categories above.
- The collaborators and affiliates section is like the References document you submit alongside a resume. The main reason you list these people on a biosketch is to indicate potential connections you could draw upon in a project that stems from your expertise. So, only put people that are connected to your expertise!
This document is expected to be about a page long.
On the next page, please include one paragraph describing what kinds of projects you want to be involved in as a grant writer.
Annotated Resume
If a biosketch doesn’t sound useful to you, you can also create an annotated resume. You can use a resume you’ve already created, or you can craft one specifically for this assignment. (If you’ve never made a resume before, see this link and drop by Thursday’s class for some advice.) The catch is that you need to add annotations to explain the following:
- What elements of your resume clearly demonstrate your academic expertise(s)? They must explicitly demonstrate it—if you have to explain that your BS in Mechanical Engineering means you’re an expert in rocket propulsion, you might need to make it more clear in the resume itself.
- What elements of your resume clearly demonstrate professional or technical expertise? Again, if your annotations have to explain something, try to find a way to make it more explicit in your resume.
Annotations should be added using the Comment tool of your word processor. In Word, the Comment tool is under the Review tab. In Open Office Writer, the Comment tool is under the Insert menu.
This document should not be more than a page long.
On the next page, please include one paragraph describing what kinds of projects you want to be involved in as a grant writer.
Process
Please complete this document and submit it on the Biosketch assignment on Canvas (LINK) by Sunday, April 4.
Grading
This rubric is pretty simple — either this document clearly shows where your expertise is at or it doesn’t. If your written feedback is minimal, this is either because (a) your work was excellent and I can’t recommend much or anything for improvement or (b) your work indicates that you did not spend much time on this assignment.
- Basic Information (3 points possible)
- 3 points: Document clearly notes who you are, your major/academic background and other technical or professional expertises (if any)
- 1 point: Document clearly notes who you are
- Identifying Details (3 points possible)
- 3 points: Your document has clear details connecting you to specific expertises or types of projects.
- 1 point: Your annotations have to explain your connection to specific expertises or types of projects.
- Suggested Application (4 points possible)
- 4 points: Your paragraph clearly indicates the types of projects you would be interested in.
- 2 points: Your paragraph indicates vague areas you would be interested in working.
