Skills Development Fellowships (previously Strategic Skills Fellowships) will support training for capacity building in MRC priority areas by:

• Supporting very early career researchers to consolidate their skills in a priority area in which they are already active or in which they are seeking training
• Supporting researchers at all career stages who wish to change disciplines to a priority area

The scheme currently focusses on the following priority areas:

• Quantitative expertise: covering mathematics, statistics, computation and informatics applicable to any biomedical or health related data sources, from molecular to population level.
  
  Applicants from a quantitative disciplinary background should be seeking to develop new expertise and skills by applying mathematical, statistical and computational methods to biomedical and/or health research across MRC remit, including the development of novel methods in these areas if needed for the application. Applicants from an existing background in other disciplines should be seeking to acquire training in quantitative methods as applied to biomedical and/or health research.
   
• Expertise at the social science interface: with a focus on areas of health economics and/or mixed methods research.
  
  Applicants from an economics or social sciences research background should be seeking to develop new expertise and skills by applying economics or social sciences methods to biomedical and/or health research across MRC’s remit, including the development of novel methods in these areas if needed for the application. Applicants from an existing background in other disciplines should be seeking or to acquire training in economics or social research methods as applied to biomedical and/or health research.

Tenure

The fellowship provides three years’ support. Applicants may request up to four years’ support where the project and training require more than three years and the need for the additional time is fully justified in the application.

Further details at: http://www.mrc.ac.uk/skills-careers/fellowships/skills-development-fellowships/