In the eighth grade, he qualified for the first time to the National Chemistry Olympiad, where he met and was inspired by several young people who would later become great researchers, such as: Adrian Șalic, now a professor at Harvard Medical School, Mihai Bărboiu, Traian Sulea, Dragoș Horvat.

[4] In 1985 he succeeded with an average of 9.75, entrance to the very selective High School of Philology and History (now the Banat College), the chemistry-biology class, where he continued his passion for chemistry.

In the summer of 1988, taking advantage of a trip to France, he did not return to Communist Romania and settled in Strasbourg, where he was admitted to the Lycée International des Pontonniers.

He obtains the "Diplôme d'Études Approfondies" in organic and supramolecular chemistry at the Université de Strasbourg and begins his doctorate in Professor Lehn's laboratory.

In 2006, he received an offer to lead a research group at the Max Plank Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund and, at the same time, won a Marie Curie Excellence grant of two million euros.

[2] He attracted the attention of the Romanian press and, in 2007 he became vice-president of the Presidential Commission for the analysis and elaboration of policies in the fields of education, appointed by President Traian Basescu.

[8] In the hearings of the specialized commission, obviously hostile, Funeriu refused to present his program sitting on the chair and spoke standing,[9] saying that "even when I am rejected for political reasons, I remain straight".

As minister, he initiated a series of major changes, especially those aimed at the moral reform of society (by stopping exam fraud and the first anti-plagiarism campaign).

[4] He returns for a short period in research collaborating with his good friend Professor Nicolas Giuseppone, and since 2017 he has been appointed High Advisor of the European Union to the Government of the Republic of Moldova, supporting the Republic of Moldova in the process of implementing the reforms necessary for accession to the European Union.

He contributed, in collaboration with Ivan Huc, to the beginning of the field of dynamic combinatorial chemistry,[13] after which, at Scripps, he developed a method of self-assembly of peptides based on the sterically directed hydrophobic interaction of phenylalanine residues.

[21] In addition to academic research, Funeriu participated in the team that optimized the synthesis of finasteride by Merck and co. Daniel P. Funeriu was the mentor of successful chemists, including Mihaela Matache, associate professor at the University of Bucharest, Niculina Hădade, professor at Babeș-Bolyai University, Doru Roiban, Cristian Dobrotă and participated in the revival of organic chemistry in Romania.

[25] The press reported that Funeriu was at the origin of the discovery and publication in Nature of the evidence of plagiarism of Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

Through Law 1/2011, Funeriu introduced starting with 2012, through the preparatory class, compulsory education from the age of 6 and drastic anti-plagiarism measures.

Also, recent presidential elections were won by the pro-EU president, Maia Sandu (to which Funeriu is considered by the press to be closely connected[32]) by a comfortable margin.

During his mandate as Minister of Education, Research, Youth and Sports, Daniel P. Funeriu was one of the most attacked members of the government by the PSD-PNL alliance, but also from within the majority party in the ruling coalition (PDL).

His reforms, especially those related to the elimination of baccalaureate fraud and plagiarism, have produced major societal shocks that have been used politically by the PSD-PNL opposition.

Known for his abrasive, clear, direct and unsparing language, Funeriu had clear positions against major political figures, including Klaus Iohannis (whom he supported until he found that the education reform proposed by Iohannis was a failure), Victor Ponta, Mircea Geoană, Elena Lasconi, but also against the part of the ROC that would be "infiltrated with people in Soviet pay, majority in Moldova and Oltenia", a statement that produced a vigorous controversy with the Prime Minister at the time, Victor Ponta.

In reality Funeriu obtained his baccalaureate just 9 months after arriving in France, with good enough school results to be admitted to the very selective course of "Classes Prépa".

[35] Funeriu also suffered numerous personal attacks, being labelled as "arrogant" because of his trenchant and clear style of expressing the reforms he undertook.

The extreme nationalist and ultraconservative part of the political spectrum accuses Funeriu of being too progressive because he supported vaccination campaigns against cervical cancer.

Funeriu has declared his strong support for NATO-driven defense policies, including increase of military budget to 3.5% of the GDP.