The Rice Arts, Cognition, and Health Science (ARCHES) Initiative is a research hub that spans the Shepherd School of Music, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences, and the School of Social Sciences at Rice University in Houston.  Rice ARCHES also collaborates with Musiqa, a Houston-based contemporary music ensemble, and the Houston Methodist Center for Performing Arts Medicine in the Texas Medical Center.  The aim of this initiative is to bring together researchers across the arts and sciences to assess the effect that music creativity engagement has on cognition and social/emotional well-being.

Rice ARCHES is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. More information on currently funded research labs can be found here: https://www.arts.gov/artistic-fields/research-analysis/national-endowment-for-the-arts-research-labs