Visiting Scholars Program

Exciting Training Opportunity for Researchers and Students!

Purpose

The Music4Pain Research Network’s Visiting Scholars Program seeks applications from researchers and PhD students who would like to pursue brief residential training experiences related to mechanistic research on music for pain management. Examples of training experiences supported by this initiative include but are not limited to: (1) specific neuroimaging acquisition techniques and analysis methods, (2) psychophysiological measures to study responses to music in the context of pain, (3) epigenetic modifications in response to music, (4) examination of molecular and biochemical signals relevant to advancing mechanistic understanding of music for pain, (5) secondary data analysis methods to generate innovative hypotheses related to music and pain, (6) development of neurobiological models to explain music’s effect on pain, (7)  innovative methods of music intervention delivery, (8) the design of rigorous mechanistic studies, and (9) statistical analysis approaches for mechanistic research.

The training shall lead to measurable scholarly output such as a grant application or publication specifically related to mechanisms of music for pain management.

This program provides up to $5,000 to be used for roundtrip travel to a U.S.-based research lab and accommodation expenses. Applications are open to researchers and PhD students from all fields of research. We seek to fund up to 6 applications.

Length of the training

The length of the training is flexible but shall not exceed 3 weeks. The training needs to be completed by August 15, 2026.

Key Dates

Posted: 9/19/2025

Application deadline: There is no specific deadline. We will accept applications on a rolling basis.

Notification of award: One month following application submission. Training completion date: August 15, 2026

Eligibility

The applicant must be:

1. A member of the Music4Pain Research Network. Applicants can register here for free: https://music4pain.org/join/join-our-network/.
2. A faculty, researcher, postdoc or a PhD student at a US academic institution or a clinician or researcher at a US clinical site. Applicants who are not affiliated with an academic institution or clinical setting are not eligible.
   • Applicants do not need to be U.S. citizens, but they must be currently studying or working at a U.S.-based institution.
3. Applicants from foreign institutions or settings are not eligible.

The training host:

The training host music have expertise related to the applicant’s training goals, as evidenced by funded research and publications.

Applicants are responsible for identifying a suitable training host. They may wish to search the Music4Pain Collaborator Database for researchers with the desired expertise; however, hosts are not required to be a Music4Pain member.

Investigators may contact the Music4Pain research Network at music4pain@drexel.edu with questions related to eligibility and appropriateness of their proposed training.

Visiting Scholars may be hosted at either domestic or international institutions.

Application Submission Process

Applicants should submit the documents below in a single PDF file to music4pain@drexel.edu.

An application (single-spaced, 0.5 margins, and in Arial 11 font) must include the following:

1. Cover Page: Include names and affiliations of applicant and training host, their institutions, mailing addresses, and email addresses. Also include amount requested and dates of training period.
2. Proposal: 1 page maximum
   • Description of the applicant’s area of expertise.
   • Description of career goals related to music for pain management. Description of the training required to achieve those goals. Rationale for selection of the training host and description of training activities.
   • Description of measurable outputs of the training (e.g., grant application, publication). Please note that the output(s) need to be specifically related to enhancing mechanistic understanding of music for pain.
3. Letter of Support from training host: The letter should describe the training host’s expertise, description of their research lab (include lab URL, if available), and commitment to providing training to the applicant for the period stated in the application.
4. NIH biosketch: for applicant and training host
5. Budget
   • Budget for (1) travel to and from training site, (2) accommodation, and (3) per diem ($60/day). Research supplies or related expenses are not permitted. The total budget shall not exceed $5,000.
   • Budget justification

The applicant will be reimbursed for approved expenses after completion of the training period and after submission of expense receipts. The reimbursement process will be outlined in the award letter. All expenses have to be incurred before August 15, 2026. No reimbursements will be made for expenses incurred after August 15, 2026.

Review Process

1. Each application will be assessed by the Music4Pain Research Network Core Investigative Team using the following criteria:
   • Relevance of the applicant’s research interests and career goals to advancing mechanistic understanding of music for pain management.
   • Alignment of the training activities with the stated career goals. Alignment of training host’s expertise with the stated training objectives.
   • Importance of the training output as related to advancing mechanistic understanding of music for pain.
2. Final funding decisions will be made by the Music4Pain Research Network Core Investigative Team in consultation with NIH/NCCIH staff.

Expectations of award recipients:

1. Within 90 days of completion of the training period, the award recipient will submit a progress report that includes:
2. A summary of the training activities
3. Progress status on the planned training outputs that were named in the application with anticipated submission date(s)
4. Within 12 months of the training period completion date, submit progress status of training outputs.

Questions? 

If you have additional questions about the Visiting Scholars Program, please contact: music4pain@drexel.edu

Visiting Scholars Program – Past Awardees