Society for Music Perception and Cognition Awards

As part of our mission, SMPC has created multiple awards to recognize and support members at various stages of their careers. These include the early career award, mentorship award, lifetime achievement award, student research awards, and a travel and childcare grant.

Nominations for 2026 SMPC Awards are currently OPEN. All nominations/applications must be submitted by May 25, 2026 (for Travel and Childcare Grants) or June 1, 2026 (for all other awards). Please see below for nomination requirements for each award. Direct any questions to smpcawards@musicperception.org

Lifetime Achievement Award

Initiated in 2011, the SMPC Achievement Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of music perception and cognition. The award carries lifetime membership in SMPC. Anyone is eligible for the award, except current SMPC board members. Awards are to be presented at SMPC meetings (no award given in 2019). Nominations and decisions are made by an ad-hoc committee comprising of board members.
The SMPC Awards Committee will solicit nominations for the SMPC Achievement Award. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of music perception and cognition. It carries lifetime membership in SMPC. Anyone is eligible for the award, except current SMPC board members.
The bylaws state that award recipients must be nominated by at least three SMPC members. A nomination should include a short statement (at least a paragraph, or more if you wish) explaining why you believe the nominee deserves the award.
Decisions are made by an ad-hoc sub-committee, chaired by a member of the Awards Committee, comprised of members of the Executive board, Anti-racism and Equity Committee, Mentorship Committee, and senior SMPC members."
Prior to the inception of the SMPC Achievement Award, the society gave Lifetime Membership Awards to Diana Deutsch, Bruno Repp, and Leonard Meyer.
- 2024 Awardees
- 2022 Awardees
  - Stephen McAdams
  - Justin London
  - Isabelle Peretz
  - Laurel Trainor
- 2017 Awardees
  - Jay Dowling
  - David Huron
- 2015 Awardees
  - Lola Cuddy
- 2013 Awardees
  - Mari Reiss Jones
  - Sandra Trehub
- 2011 Awardees
  - Eugene Narmour
  - Carol Krumhansl

Mentorship Award

The Mentorship Award has been established by the SMPC to recognize a non-student SMPC member (e.g., postdoctoral fellow, staff scientist, faculty member, industry professional) who excels at mentoring others in achieving their career objectives, providing skill-based and socio-emotional support to students, and promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. This award aims to recognize currently active mentors, who may be early in their careers (rather than serving as a lifetime mentorship award), mid-career, or senior in their career. The mentor should: A. help mentees develop ideas intellectually and guide them in acquiring necessary skills outside of taught courses; and B. demonstrate care for the well-being and career development of mentees. The award recipient will be highlighted at the SMPC conference in an award ceremony.
Nominations for the mentorship award should be made by the mentees. No mentorship statement from the mentor is required. Mentors interested in this opportunity may circulate this information to their mentees. At least two mentee statements per nominee are required: Mentees (current or prior trainees, at any level) should submit brief statements of 250-500 words; each statement should be written by a single individual and should not be co-signed. Mentees should identify the stage of training they were at when they were mentored by the nominee, and for how long they received mentorship by the nominee in their statements. As appropriate to the mentee’s experience with the mentor, mentee statements may address the mentor’s approach to mentorship and experience with students, trainees, and/or colleagues, including efforts to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in these contexts. Mentee statements may consider professional/skill-based mentorship and/or socio-emotional support.
Mentorship nominations are welcome at all post-graduate career stages (i.e., mentors should have completed their graduate training; current PhD students are not eligible for the Mentorship Award).
Please note: it is no longer possible to nominate co-mentors for a shared award. Instead, mentees should submit separate statements for each mentor. That is, a single mentee is eligible to submit multiple nominations.
Statements by mentees should be sent (together or separately) to smpcawards@musicperception.org, with subject line “Mentorship Award - [Applicant’s name]” by the deadline.
Award recipients will be chosen among nominees for whom completed applications have been received (at least two supporting mentee statements).
Decisions are made by an ad-hoc sub-committee, chaired by a member of the Awards Committee, comprised of members of the Executive board, Anti-racism and Equity Committee, and Mentorship Committee, based on the submitted letters and nominations."
2024 Awardees:
2022 Awardees:

Early Career Award

The Early Career Award has been established by the SMPC to recognize a scholar within 10 years of receiving their terminal degree (with extension for parental or medical leave) who has made outstanding research contributions to the study of music cognition and perception and shows continued promise to be a leader in the field. In addition, this award will factor in excellence at mentorship and action to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion as part of this individuals’ research program. Eligibility includes an extension of the 10-year limit of up to two years for applicants who have been granted a childbearing, parental, or medical leave. The award recipient will be highlighted at SMPC in an award ceremony.
Applicants (self-nominations allowed) should submit a 250-500 word research statement outlining: up to three research-related contributions that they judge as most important; envisioned future research; and how their work involves mentorship and promotes equity, diversity and inclusion. Nominees should also provide an abbreviated CV, limited to 2 pages. These materials should be emailed to smpcawards@musicperception.org, with subject line “Early Career Award - [Applicant’s name]” by the deadline.
Decisions are made by an ad-hoc sub-committee, chaired by a member of the Awards Committee, comprised of members of the Executive board, Anti-racism and Equity Committee, and Mentorship Committee, based on the submitted nominations.
2024 Awardees
2022 Awardees
- Swathi Swaminathan
- Patrick Savage

Student Research Award

Student Research Awards have been established by the SMPC to recognize the contributions of students/trainees (undergraduate, graduate, or postbaccalaureate researchers) at the SMPC meetings. The award recipients will be highlighted at the SMPC conference in an award ceremony.
All undergraduate, post baccalaureate, and graduate students who are first authors on an SMPC conference abstract submission are eligible to apply. Self-nominations will occur during abstract submissions. Finalists for the award will be asked to submit a 3-5 minute long video presentation of their work after abstract acceptance, which will be due 1 to 2 months before the conference.
Award decisions will be made by the conference's program committee, together with an ad-hoc committee including members of the SMPC Committees for Mentorship and of the Anti-Racism & Equity Committee, based on the abstracts and videos. Finalists will be able to opt-in to sharing their videos afterward, e.g. through SMPC social media channels.
2024 Awardees:
For the Student Research Award, students were asked to submit a brief video presenting their research. Videos are linked for the winners who agreed to have them linked on the website. Videos for the runners-up can also be found on our YouTube Channel.
- Ellen Herschel
- Sophia Mehdizadeh
- Dana Swarbrick
- Jinyu Wang
2022 Awardees:
- Noah Fram
- Anna Kasdan
- Nicholas Kathios

Travel and Childcare Grant

The Travel and Childcare Grant has been established by the SMPC to support up to the full the cost of travel to the SMPC meeting, including the cost of childcare, on the basis of merit and need.
Potential recipients must meet one or more of the following criteria to be eligible to apply for a travel award: (a) full- or part-time students, (b) unwaged or partially waged researchers, including postdoctoral researchers or adjunct faculty with need, or (c) researchers from the Global South/ low- or middle-income countries, particularly those for whom SMPC is the nearest relevant pan-national society meeting.
To be eligible, the applicant must be a first-author or presenting author of work accepted for presentation at the conference.
To apply, please fill out this application form.
Decisions are made by an ad-hoc sub-committee, chaired by a member of the Awards Committee, comprised of members of the Executive board, Anti-racism and Equity Committee, and Mentorship Committee.
2024 Awardees:
Liz Acosta, Alexander Albury, Katerina Drakoulaki, Saki Homma, Yifan Huang, Anika Jahagirdar, Megan Kibler, Jay Marchand Knight, Chloe Mondok, Florence Nweke, Tudor Popescu, Shreshth Saxena, Veronica Vuong
2022 Awardees:
Elizabeth Acosta, Camila Alviar, Tzu-Han Zoe Cheng, Matt Evans, Ellen Herschel, Sneha Jindal, Hema Nair, Srishti Nayak, Rachana Nitin, Tessa Shune, Samantha Tun, Rachel Thompson