MONGOLIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Their core work

MUST is a technical university in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, specialising in biomaterials and tissue engineering research, with particular expertise in scaffolds derived from natural materials. Their H2020 participation is exclusively through MSCA-RISE staff exchange programmes, meaning they contribute by sending researchers to European labs and hosting incoming scientists — rather than running independent R&D workpackages. Their niche strength is the intersection of Mongolia's native natural materials science tradition with modern biomedical engineering, particularly for bone, cartilage, and wound-healing applications. They function as a non-European node in regenerative medicine research networks, giving EU consortia access to Central Asian scientific talent and materials knowledge.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (REMIX, 2017), MUST's contribution centred on foundational research methods — scaffold fabrication, natural material characterisation, and in vitro testing protocols. By 2021, SHIFT shifted the emphasis toward applied outcomes: product design, green chemistry, clinical translation (bench-to-bedside), and specific tissue targets (bone, cartilage, wound healing). The trajectory is a clear move from materials science fundamentals toward biomedical product development and commercialisation readiness.

MUST is progressing from basic biomaterials research toward sustainable product development and clinical translation, making them increasingly relevant to consortia targeting TRL advancement in regenerative medicine.

How they like to work

MUST has not led any H2020 project — both participations are as a third party in MSCA-RISE staff exchanges, the programme designed for researcher mobility rather than coordinated R&D. This means they contribute through people (exchanged scientists) rather than through managed workpackages or deliverables. With 7 unique partners across 7 countries from just 2 projects, they join broad international consortia but occupy a peripheral position rather than a central coordination role.

MUST has built connections with 7 partners across 7 countries through two MSCA-RISE staff exchanges, a notably diverse geographic spread for a two-project portfolio. Their entire network sits within the regenerative medicine and tissue engineering research community.

What sets them apart

As the only Mongolian university identified in H2020 regenerative medicine consortia, MUST offers something genuinely uncommon: a research gateway into Central Asia with local expertise in animal- and plant-derived natural biomaterials that are distinct from those available in European labs. For MSCA programme managers and consortium builders needing a non-EU third-country partner from the Asia-Pacific region, MUST adds geographic and intellectual diversity that few other institutions in this field can provide. Their value is less about scale and more about access — to researchers, materials, and a scientific community rarely represented in EU networks.

Highlights from their portfolio

• REMIX
  A six-year MSCA-RISE project (2017–2023) that established MUST's EU research presence and built the natural-materials scaffold expertise that underpins all subsequent work.
• SHIFT
  Running until 2026, this project marks a pivot toward sustainable product design and bench-to-bedside translation, reflecting growing applied ambition in bone, cartilage, and wound-healing applications.