Similar to other neighbours of the former Soviet Union, Mongolia has benefited earlier from a good level of education, support and scientific research opportunities offered by close collaboration with the USSR, Eastern Europe and JINR (Dubna). Following the dissolution of the USSR, Mongolian scientists suffered from increasing isolation and lack of financial support, with the result that many scientists left the country or changed profession. Nevertheless, a core of senior scientists remains, accompanied now by a younger generation. In recent years, the small community of nuclear and particle physicists has been involved mostly in the H1 experiment at the HERA storage ring at DESY, and in experiments at JINR. There is also a small but competitive theory group.

Following the termination of the HERA programme, the Mongolianhigh-energy physics community intends to redirect its activities to CERN. To this end, an International Cooperation Agreement (ICA) was signed with Mongolia in 2014. Participation in one of the LHC experiments, and possibly in heavy-ion physics at the SPS, is presently under discussion. Students and teachers from Mongolia have been trained under the respective programmes of CERN.