The National University of Mongolia (NUM), established in 1942, is the country's oldest higher education institution. Located in Ulaanbaatar, NUM has played a foundational role in shaping Mongolia's academic landscape, serving as the origin of many of the nation's leading universities and research institutions.
NUM is Mongolia's first and comprehensive university. It offers a wide range of academic programs—115 undergraduate and 200 graduate degrees—across the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering, and law. With an enrollment of approximately 20,000 students, including a growing international cohort, NUM fosters a diverse, inclusive, and globally engaged academic community.
Renowned for its research excellence, NUM is home to nine affiliated research institutes and numerous state-of-the-art laboratories. Its commitment to academic advancement and scientific inquiry has established NUM as Mongolia's top-ranked university.
NUM provides facilities relevant to environmental and ecological studies for field-based and laboratory research. These include the Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Ecophysiology, the Forest Ecology Laboratory, and Environmental Chemistry and Geochemistry. The university also maintains a network of permanent research plots, collecting long-term ecological data across two major forest biomes: boreal forests and dryland woodlands, including Mongolia's southern saxaul (Haloxylon) forests. NUM operates eight regional training and research stations, which offer on-site accommodation, greenhouses, and basic research equipment, enabling students and researchers to conduct ecological studies in diverse and remote environments..