Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs graduated from the University of Rostock, Germany with a M.Sc. equivalent degree in Transport Engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) in 1995. In 2003 he completed his Ph.D. (Dr.-Ing.) in Safety Science at the University of Wuppertal, Germany with a thesis about causes of maritime casualties and underlying factors.

As a former seafarer, Dr. Schröder-Hinrichs obtained practical experience on different levels – from AB apprentice to navigation officer – on board various ship types in world-wide trade. He holds an unlimited Master Mariner Licence (Kapitän AG). After finishing his seafaring career, he joined the classification society Germanischer Lloyd, working in the head office in Hamburg, Germany. He dealt with ship safety tasks and was engaged in manning and qualification matters.

In October 2000 he joined the World Maritime University. He was the Nippon Foundation Chair of Maritime Administration from 2006 to 2011 when he was appointed Head of Maritime Safety and Environmental Administration (MSEA), the largest program at WMU. In addition, in 2016 he was appointed Head of Research. He is also the coordinator of the Maritime Risk and System Safety (MaRiSa) Research Group since 2009. Dr. Schröder-Hinrichs is the Editor of the WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs published with Springer Verlag and has been involved with the Journal since its beginning in 2002.

Dr. Schröder-Hinrichs is and was an advisor to maritime administrations, such as the Maritime Casualty Investigation Board of Germany, and is an appointed auditor for the IMO Voluntary Member State Audit Scheme on behalf of Germany. In addition, Dr. Schröder-Hinrichs is a member of the Nautical Institute (currently Chairman of the Swedish Branch, member of the Council and of the Technical Committee), the German Ship Master and Officer Association, and the European Safety and Reliability Association.