Philippe Quevauviller has been a researcher in oceanography in the years 1983-1989 at the University of Bordeaux (France) in cooperation with the Portuguese Environment Ministry in Lisbon (Portugal) and the Dutch Ministry for Public Works in The Hague. He obtained two PhDs (oceanography and environmental chemistry) in 1987 and 1991, and the highest French University degree (HDR) in 1999.

He started his career at the European Commission in 1989 as scientific officer at DG Research, then as policy officer at DG Environment (in charge of EU groundwater policies) in the years 2002-2008, and back to DG Research from 2008 to 2013 in the area of hydrometeorological hazards. He moved to the Secure Societies Programme in 2013 (DG HOME), where he is responsible for research programming in the area of Disaster Resilient Societies and in charge of coordinating the development of the Community of Users on Secure, Safe and Resilient Societies.