excerpted from NIH Notice Number: NOT-OD-11-045
Beginning with applications submitted for May 25, 2011 and subsequent receipt dates, the biosketch instructions will include a modification of the personal statement section to remind applicants that they can provide a description of personal issues that may have reduced productivity. The revised instructions for the personal statement are shown below and should appear in applications toward the end of March:
Personal statement: Briefly describe why your experience and qualifications make you particularly well-suited for your role (e.g. PD/PI, mentor) in the project that is the subject of the application. Within this section you may, if you choose, briefly describe factors such as family care responsibilities, illness, disability, and active duty military service that may have affected your scientific advancement or productivity.
Providing information about personal issues is optional. If applicants wish to provide such information they are encouraged to limit such descriptions to a few sentences.
Information on other NIH policies designed to accommodate illness, disability and family care responsibilities can be found on the Women in Biomedical Careers website here and on the Office of Extramural Research website found here