First an apology. If you have ever emailed someone at NSF and not gotten a reply, we apologize for that. We know how intimidating it can be to email someone you don’t know and then to not get a response is upsetting.

Please know that it is always our goal to get timely responses back to PIs. Don’t hesitate to send a message a second time. We do not take offense and welcome ‘gentle reminders’!

However, sometimes emails can go unanswered because of the dynamics of our staffing. We have a significant population of rotating Program Directors who serve for a year or two before leaving NSF to head back to their home institution. We try our best to ensure the websites are updated quickly and are current but this doesn’t always happen at the speed we would wish. Additionally, we have Program Directors who take temporary details to other governmental positions or might be on extended leave for any number of reasons, and therefore are not reachable.

If you haven’t gotten a response after a while, check the program page again to see if the person you emailed is still listed. If not, identify another Program Director to contact. You can also send an email to the Program’s email alias which all Program Directors who are part of that particular program will receive.

The Program Contact email aliases in IOS are:

Developmental Systems Program Directors                                      IOSDSC@nsf.gov

Behavioral Systems Program Directors                                              IOSBSC@nsf.gov

Physiological & Structural Systems Program Directors                     IOSPSS@nsf.gov

Plant Genome Research Program Directors                                      dbipgr@nsf.gov

Neural Systems Program Directors                                                    IOSNSC@nsf.gov

Hopefully this will encourage you to keep reaching out even if you don’t receive a response to a first email! We look forward to hearing from you!