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Narrative CV: how to write one, with a complete example

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Write a short paragraph or two under each heading the funder gives: what you contributed, and what came of it, with numbers a reviewer can check. Here are two modules from a complete narrative CV; the other two, Additions and the whole template are below.

Module 1: Contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies or knowledge

My research asks whether river restoration brings back the animals it is meant to, and how to measure that cheaply. At Fenmoor University I designed the sampling for a five-river study of restored and unrestored reaches, and developed a method that detects 38 invertebrate families from environmental DNA in a litre of river water, replacing a day of kick sampling at each site. I wrote it up as streamDNA, an open-source R package with a tutorial, now used by three rivers trusts and two university groups. The work has produced six peer-reviewed papers, three as first author, and a public data set of 1,240 samples.

Why it works: It says what the research asks, then what she built, who uses it and what it produced, with numbers a reviewer can check.

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Module 2: The development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships

I co-supervise two PhD students and meet each weekly; one has submitted her first paper. I trained eleven staff and students to collect and filter eDNA samples, and wrote the lab's sampling protocol so that new starters can work on their own after one supervised visit. I ran the sequencing pipeline for all three partner groups in our five-river study. Each year I teach two practical sessions on the second-year field course and mark its reports, and I organised the department's fortnightly early-career writing group, which has run since 2023.

Why it works: Supervision, training and the team work that depended on her, each with a number or a result.

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More below: The four modules and Additions, answered

A narrative CV, such as UKRI’s Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI), describes your contributions in prose under four module headings, so you can show a wider range of skills and experience than a traditional academic CV (UKRI). The answers here are Dr Ruth Adeyemi’s, a made-up postdoctoral researcher; her usual CV is our postdoc CV example, and the whole narrative CV is the narrative CV template.

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The four modules and Additions, answered

Each module answers one question about you. Ruth’s answers, with what each one does:

Module 3: Contributions to the wider research and innovation community

I review for three freshwater ecology journals, and in 2025 I co-organised a one-day eDNA methods workshop for 60 researchers and practitioners at a national ecology meeting. I am the postdoctoral representative on my department's research committee, where I proposed the shared equipment booking that is now used across four labs. The code and data behind every paper are public.

Why it works: Reviewing, an event she organised and committee work, with one change she made that others now use, and her open code and data.

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Module 4: Contributions to broader research and innovation users and audiences, and towards wider societal benefit

I worked with three rivers trusts so that they could run eDNA surveys themselves: I trained their volunteers, and two trusts now use streamDNA results in their reports to funders. I wrote a four-page guide for river managers on what eDNA can and cannot show, downloaded more than 900 times. I have led six river days for local primary schools.

Why it works: Who outside research uses the work, and how she knows: the trusts’ reports, the guide’s downloads, the school days.

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Additions

I was on parental leave for nine months in 2023; the five-river study was extended by a year to keep its sampling complete.

Why it works: Context only: what happened and what it changed for the work. No extra achievements.

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What a narrative CV is, and when to use one

UKRI’s R4RI is a flexible narrative CV template, designed to help you or your team evidence a wider range of skills and experience than a traditional academic CV (UKRI: R4RI guidance, checked 17 October 2026). The ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’ section of each funding call says whether to use it and who to include, and the call sets the word count.

Your R4RI should focus on your ability and potential to carry out the project. For a team, submit one R4RI for the whole team, even if its members are in different organisations: you can highlight individual achievements, but together they should show the team is right for the work (UKRI). UKRI suggests what each module can include:

UKRI’s is not the only narrative CV. The Royal Society’s Résumé for Researchers, now on an archived page, has the same idea: four modules on contributions to knowledge, to people, to the research community and to society, plus a personal statement, with a suggested limit of 1,000 words across the modules, over two pages (Royal Society: Résumé for Researchers, checked 17 October 2026). Other funders and universities ask for their own versions, so write to the headings and word count in the call you are answering, not to ours.

  • Module 1, new ideas, tools, methods or knowledge: how you communicated your ideas and results; key outputs such as data sets, software, research and policy publications; skills from past research projects.
  • Module 2, developing others and working relationships: expertise that was critical to a team’s success; teaching, workshops and mentoring; your leadership in shaping a team’s direction.
  • Module 3, the wider research community: positions of responsibility; reviewing, editing and committee work; strategic leadership in a research agenda.
  • Module 4, users, audiences and society: work with the public sector, clients and the wider public; research that has added to public understanding or to policy.

What assessors look for

Assessors use your R4RI to inform their view of the whole application; they never score single modules. Reviewers and panel members see it, and it is not anonymised (UKRI).

In UKRI’s Funding Service the section asks why you are the right person or team to deliver the work, and assessors look for evidence that you, and your team if you have one, have (UKRI: core section questions, checked 17 October 2026):

Early in your career? Assessors judge your experience against your career stage, so say what that stage is, such as a final-year PhD or a first postdoc, and draw on what you have done so far: a thesis chapter, a data set you built, teaching as a graduate teaching assistant or a workshop you helped run. Fewer, well-evidenced contributions read better than a long list.

  • the relevant experience, appropriate to your career stage, to deliver the work
  • the right balance of skills and expertise to cover it
  • the leadership and management skills to deliver it, and your approach to developing others
  • contributed to a positive research environment and the wider community

Additions: context, not more achievements

Additions is optional. Use it for context for the rest of your R4RI, such as career breaks, secondments or voluntary work. Reviewers and the panel will see it even if it mentions something sensitive, so write about how it affected your career rather than about the issue itself (UKRI).

Do not use it for more skills, experience or outputs: they will not be assessed. In the Funding Service, Additions can be up to 500 words (UKRI).

From your CV to a narrative

The facts stay the same; the narrative adds why the work mattered and what changed because of it. Here are three of Ruth’s CV lines and what they became. Keep your CV and narrative CV side by side, so the posts, dates and numbers in one never disagree with the other.

On her CVIn her narrative CV
Wrote and maintain streamDNA, an open-source R package with a tutorial, used by three rivers trusts and two university groups.Module 1 names the package and its users; Module 4 adds that two trusts now use its results in their reports to funders.
Co-supervisor of two PhD students; trained eleven staff and students in eDNA sampling.Module 2 adds the weekly meetings, a student’s first paper, and the protocol that lets new starters work on their own after one visit.
Parental leave, nine months in 2023; the study was extended by a year.Additions: one sentence of context, with what it changed for the project.

Before you paste it in

Five checks before the narrative goes into the application.

  • Read the call: whether it asks for an R4RI, who to include, and the word count (UKRI).
  • Use each module heading once, and write it as a narrative rather than in a CV format (UKRI).
  • Choose only the past contributions that best show you can deliver this work (UKRI).
  • For a team, write one R4RI and say what each person brings (UKRI).
  • Read it as a reviewer would: could they check every claim from a name, a number or an output?

Try it in a template

Narrative CV templateAcademic CV templateEdit your CV in the browser

Complete CV examples

Postdoc CV exampleLecturer CV examplePhD CV example

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