After completing formal education as a teacher training in Bern he began studies in the earth sciences at ETH Zürich (ETHZ) in 1943, where he earned his diploma in 1947.
Röthlisberger then embarked on a PhD on the topic of seismic investigations of molasse rocks, under the guidance of Professor Dr. F. Gassmann at the Geophysical Institute of ETH Zürich.
His interest in glaciers was fostered by his mountaineering activities, and while working on his PhD, Hans Röthlisberger participated in scientific expeditions in eastern Greenland (1951; EGIG, Expédition Glaciologique Internationale au Groenland) and on Baffin Island (1950 and 1953), where he performed seismic geophysical experiments on glaciers.
His work on glaciers led him to be awarded a tenured position in 1954 in the Hydrology Section of the "Versuchsanstalt für Wasserbau und Erdbau"(Laboratory of Hydraulics and Earthworks) (VAWE, ETH Zürich) under the leadership of Prof.Ing.
[7] He made a name with his theory of subglacial channel hydraulics, first described in one of the most frequently cited papers [8] of the Journal of Glaciology now known as "R (for Röthlisberger)-channels.