The Mongolian Foundation for Science and Technology (MFST) — also referred to in some English-language materials as the Science and Technology Foundation, operating under the domain stf.gov.mn — is Mongolia’s principal state-funded body for financing scientific research, technology development, and innovation commercialization. For research administrators and institutions building or supporting collaborations with Mongolian universities and research institutes, MFST is the primary national funding counterpart to organizations such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) or national research councils elsewhere in Asia — and one of the least-documented in English-language research-administration literature, which this guide aims to address.
What MFST is and who it funds
MFST operates as Mongolia’s main channel for competitive, state-funded research grants, positioned as a bridge between research institutes, universities, government ministries, and the private/innovation sector. Mongolian government sources and secondary reporting describe the foundation as established by a 1993 government resolution, consistent with the broader wave of post-1990 institutional restructuring of Mongolia’s science system after the transition from a centrally planned economy. Readers should treat the exact founding date and resolution number as reported rather than independently primary-verified, since MFST does not appear to maintain an English-language institutional history page; the foundation’s current mandate and operations are corroborated across multiple independent sources, including its own grant-announcement portal and reporting from regional research-cooperation networks.
Eligible applicants are, as a rule, Mongolian universities and state research institutes rather than individual unaffiliated researchers — a structure consistent with how most national science foundations in the region administer competitive grants, requiring an eligible host institution to hold and administer the award.
Funding programs
Based on MFST’s published program categories, the foundation funds research and innovation across several distinct tracks:
- Fundamental research grants — support basic, theoretical science across physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, ecology, earth sciences, and the humanities, typically awarded to universities and state research institutes.
- Applied research and technology development grants — fund practical problem-solving and technology creation across agriculture, medicine, biotechnology, digital technologies, engineering, materials science, and environmental science. These awards are generally targeted at mid-range technology readiness levels (roughly TRL 3–6), i.e., beyond basic proof-of-concept but short of full commercial deployment.
- Young researchers grants — smaller awards restricted to scientists under 35, intended to fund early-career activity such as small-scale projects, data collection, publication costs, and conference or research participation.
- Innovation and commercialization grants — support moving research outputs toward market-ready products: patenting assistance, prototype development, technology startups, and pilot implementations, often structured to require collaboration between a university or institute and a private-sector partner.
- Priority national programs — thematic funding calls set annually by the Mongolian government, historically covering areas such as natural resources and mining, climate and environmental sustainability, biomedical sciences, digital transformation, and agriculture.
Because MFST resets its priority-program list and competition calendar annually, and because specific award amounts and deadlines are published only on its own portal, institutions planning a submission should treat this guide as a structural orientation and confirm current competition details directly at stf.gov.mn rather than relying on any fixed figures here — this guide does not state specific funding amounts because they were not independently verifiable at time of writing and change from cycle to cycle.
Role in R&D commercialization
MFST’s mandate extends beyond simply disbursing research funds: Mongolian government descriptions of the foundation’s function describe it as committing research funds, monitoring disbursement through the life of a research and experimental-development project, supporting commercialization of R&D outputs, and compiling financial and results reporting. This end-to-end scope — funder, monitor, and commercialization facilitator in one body — is a narrower institutional model than is typical in larger research systems, where funding, oversight, and technology-transfer functions are usually split across separate agencies or university-level technology transfer offices. Research administrators working with Mongolian partners should expect MFST itself, rather than a separate national IP or tech-transfer authority, to be the relevant point of contact for commercialization-track funding.
International collaboration
MFST maintains at least one long-standing bilateral relationship relevant to funders and administrators working across the region: a memorandum of understanding with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), signed in July 2017 by then-NSFC President Yang Wei. NSFC’s own English-language reporting describes continued engagement under this relationship, including a meeting between NSFC leadership and MFST officials in December 2025 to discuss ongoing cooperation — indicating the relationship remains active rather than dormant. This mirrors NSFC’s broader pattern of bilateral science-cooperation MoUs with national funding agencies across Asia, discussed in more detail in CASRAI’s NSFC funding overview.
MFST is also a partner in at least one bilateral program with a funder outside the region: the Chinggis Khaan Grant, a jointly established Mongolia–University of Cambridge fully funded visiting-research program reported to run 2025–2030, offering a small number of annual research visits with airfare, accommodation, stipend, and library-access support. Programs of this kind are typically small in scale (single-digit numbers of awards per year) and function as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, MFST’s core domestic grant lines.
For research administrators, the practical implication is that a joint proposal involving a Mongolian institution and a Chinese counterpart may be eligible for coordinated or parallel review under the MFST–NSFC framework, similar in structure (though smaller in scale) to NSFC’s other bilateral and international-cooperation programs; administrators should confirm current joint-call availability directly with MFST and NSFC, since bilateral calls of this kind open and close on their own cycles rather than running continuously.
Practical notes for research administrators
- Language and access: MFST’s primary calls and application materials are published in Mongolian on stf.gov.mn; institutions without in-country language capacity should plan for translation support and, where possible, direct coordination with a Mongolian host-institution research office.
- Host-institution requirement: as with most national science foundations, awards are generally made to and administered by an eligible Mongolian university or state research institute, not to an individual researcher directly or to a foreign institution alone.
- Verify current terms directly: award ceilings, cycle deadlines, and priority-program themes change annually and are not independently corroborated here; treat any funding-amount figures you encounter elsewhere as needing direct confirmation against MFST’s own current call documents.
- Regional context: MFST sits within a broader Central and East Asian funding landscape that is thin in English-language research-administration coverage relative to its scale — administrators working across the region should expect to rely more heavily on direct agency contact and regional research-cooperation networks than on aggregated English-language guidance.
Frequently asked questions
Is MFST the same as Mongolia’s national research council?
MFST functions as Mongolia’s principal state research-funding body, combining roles that in some countries are split across a research council, a national science foundation, and a technology-transfer authority. It is not a university and does not itself conduct research; it funds and monitors research and development carried out at eligible institutions.
Can foreign researchers apply to MFST directly?
MFST’s core grant lines are structured around Mongolian universities and state research institutes as the eligible host and administering entity. Foreign researchers typically participate through a Mongolian institutional partner or through a specific bilateral program, such as the MFST–NSFC cooperation framework or the Chinggis Khaan Grant with the University of Cambridge, rather than applying to MFST’s domestic competitions directly.
What is the relationship between MFST and NSFC?
The two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding in July 2017 establishing a framework for bilateral science cooperation, and NSFC’s own reporting indicates the relationship has continued into at least December 2025. This is comparable to NSFC’s other bilateral funding-agency MoUs, covered in CASRAI’s NSFC funding overview.
What technology readiness levels does MFST’s applied research funding target?
MFST’s applied research and technology development track is generally described as targeting mid-range technology readiness levels, roughly TRL 3 through 6 — beyond initial proof-of-concept but short of full commercial-scale deployment, which falls instead under the foundation’s separate innovation and commercialization grants.
This guide reflects publicly available information as of 2026 and should not be treated as a substitute for MFST’s own current call documentation. Where specific figures (award amounts, applicant counts, budget totals) could not be independently corroborated from a primary or well-established secondary source, they have been omitted rather than estimated.
