Mustață was born in
Romania. He received a bachelor's degree in 1995 and a master's degree the following year, both from the
University of Bucharest. A
Clay Research Fellow during 2001–04, Mustață held postdoc positions at the
University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (Fall 2001), the
Isaac Newton Institute (Spring 2002), and
Harvard University (2002–04). Since 2004, when he became an associate professor, Mustață has been on the faculty of the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He was made a full professor by Michigan in 2008. In fall 2006, he was at the
Institute for Advanced Study. From 2006 to 2011, he held a five-year
Packard Fellowship. His doctoral students include Fields medalist
June Huh. == Research ==