Financial support is entirely by way of voluntary contributions from governments, agencies, foundations and individual donors. The UNU's basic annual income for operating expenses comes from investment income derived from its Endowment Fund. The UNU was established to carry out activities in many different countries and in that context, it has no student body in the traditional sense. A prospective UNU fellow cannot apply directly to the UNU for postgraduate training. Fellows are chosen after recommendations from their home institutions, which must be working in an area of concern to the UNU, and candidates must be committed to returning to work at their home institutions.
Most fellows are from developing countries.
The support staff are usually locally engaged. The University's academic network personnel generally hold positions at major universities worldwide and remain in their posts while working with UNU programmes. A wide variety of nationalities and cultures are represented. The UNU holds conferences, seminars and consultative meetings around the world and responds quickly to meet current concerns. Its colloquia and publications address pivotal problems such as conflict resolution, development economics, nutrition and the environment and sustainable development.