Bekhbat Khasbazar has been President of the IRIM since 2016. Having graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1973, he started his diplomatic career as Assistant Attaché at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia. In 1976 he was posted - as Attaché of the Embassy of Mongolia - to France. From 1981 to 1992 he held several positions at the MFA ranging from Third Secretary and Head of Division, to Vice Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO. In 1990 he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Mongolia. Between 1993 and 1998 Mr Bekhbat served as Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. Having served as Director of the Political Department at the MFA from 1998 to 2001, he was posted - as Permanent Representative to the UN Office, and other International Organizations – in Geneva, and was also Ambassador to Switzerland. After holding the post of State Secretary of MFA, from 2006 to 2008, he served as Mongolia’s Ambassador to the USA for four years. Presently Mr Bekhbat serves as Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Mongolia (an NGO). Mr Bekhbat was elevated to the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia in 1991, and was awarded a PhD in history. Moreover, among many other honours and medals, he has been awarded the Order of Polar Star, the Order of Labour Merit, and is Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur.

Christian Suter has been Professor of Sociology at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland since 2003. He studied sociology, ethnology, and social and economic history, at the University of Zurich, where he also earned his PhD. in sociology (1988). In the context of research conducted for his habilitation he was a Visiting Scholar at the Colegio de México (1995). In 2000 Christian was Visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena (Germany), and between 1996 and 2002 he was Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in Zurich. Christian has been a member of the board of the World Society Foundation since 1999; and its president since 2008. Christian’s research activities have focused on global debt crises, economic globalization, social and political transformations in Latin America, social inequalities, deprivation and poverty (in Switzerland), social indicators and social reporting, social support and health, as well as on science and technology studies. He has published several books, numerous articles and received publications awards in Germany and the United States.

Byambasuren Yadmaa is Director of the School of Management and Governance (National Academy of Governance of Mongolia), and a Board Member of IRIM.  He is routinely engaged in projects: as team leader, principal investigator and/or as a consultant. He helps IRIM to improve knowledge management practices, to ensure researchers are sharing information among themselves. Byambasuren has worked in Mongolia, Australia and South Korea. His has over 10 years of experience working in research, and 15 years’ experience as a lecturer and director at the National Academy of Governance (in the professional development institute). He also serves on the board of the Journal of Mongolian Public Administration.

Tamir Chultemsuren has worked in both the consultancy and academic sectors since 1999. He is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Social Work (National University of Mongolia) and Board Member of IRIM. Tamir is one of the co-founders of IRIM, and is intimately familiar with local governance studies and Mongolian politics. Having attended various academic seminars and functions - in the USA, Ireland, Hungary, Turkey, Finland, Kazakhstan, Austria, United Kingdom and Korea - Tamir has diverse and in-depth experience of engaging partners in cross-cultural settings. His areas of particular expertise include: social research, poverty alleviation, civic participation, community development, public perception, policy research, education policy, institution strengthening, local governance and stakeholder analysis, public-private partnership, monitoring and evaluation, project management and consultancy in general. His work has involved explicit inputs to teaching (including within universities and colleges), training (specialist courses, on-the-job, and so on) and mentoring (including students on various types of courses) all of which bnefit form his excellent inter-personal skills. He completed non-degree training at the University of California, Berkeley (2011 to 2013) and a PhD at the University of Portland (USA).

Khatanbold Oidov is defended a PhD in political sciences at the Mongolian State University of Education in 2016. He received a BA in linguistics from the Private Institute for Translators, “Khan-Khukhii,” in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (1999) and his MA in political science at Ulaanbaatar University under the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (2007). He has also lived in Ireland for two years, completing his English language study (2002-2004) at the Dublin School of English in the Republic of Ireland. His scientific approach is “Assessment of Democracy in Mongolia: Theory and Case”. Mr. Khatanbold Oidov has worked for numerous public organizations in Mongolia, including the Office of the President of Mongolia (2006), Secretariat Office of State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia (2005), International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations (2000-2002) under UNESCO, Open Society Forum (2004), National University of Culture and Arts (1999-2002), and Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law, MAS (2006-2011). Currently he works as an Academic Secretary of the Institute of Philosophy from Academy of Sciences (since 2016) and a senior academic researcher at the Department of Political Sciences, Mongolian Academy of Sciences since 2006. He started several research projects such as the International Conference for Newly and Restored Democracies (ICNRD) follow up project, where he served as the research fellow, and then with the project:  “Support in Achieving MDG-9 on Democratic Governance and Human Rights-Phase I, II” (2007-2012) which was funded by the UN Democracy Fund and Oslo Governance Centre and administered by the UNDP Mongolia Mission.

Dolgion Aldar is Board Member (External Relations) of IRIM and started her career at IRIM in 2009 as a researcher but her role has changed over the years and she worked as a executive director of IRIM from 2012 to 2016.  Dolgion has extensive international experience and believes that professionals in Mongolia have a lot to benefit by collaborating with their counterparts around the world. She has attended conferences in Mongolia, Japan, Philippines, Hungary, Turkey and the UK. She has served as a panellist for the forum on Japan - ADB Assistance Outcomes and Future Directions in Mongolia. Her key qualifications include project management, sector and policy studies, monitoring and evaluation, and institution strengthening. She has a Masters in Political Science from the University of Manchester and a Masters in Sociology from the National University of Mongolia. Dolgion is fluent in English and Mongolian and has a good command of French.