[4] She gained undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, finishing with a PhD in 1991,[4][2] with a thesis using a numerical solution of the Navier–Stokes equations using boundary conditions.

Hegerl has also led well-known research on the attribution of modern climate change to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission.

By using large-ensemble energy balance modelling to simulate temperature responses to historic changes in the radiative forcing effect of solar changes, volcanic eruptions and greenhouse gases, and comparing this to climate reconstructions, they produced an independent estimate that climate sensitivity was probably within the range of 1.5 to 6.2K.

[12] She is a co-ordinating lead author on the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report for Working Group I in the chapter on "Understanding and Attributing Climate Change".

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