The son of lawyer Rudolf Bechert and his wife, Herta (née Bade), from 1965 to 2000, Heinz Bechert held the Chair of Indology at the University of Göttingen.
Bechert's research focused on Indology and Buddhism with a focus on Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and Nepal.
In addition, he dealt with Buddhist Sanskrit tradition in Central Asia as well as the political and social significance of the Buddhist religious community up to the present day.
Bechert published numerous scientific papers and works.
Together with Ernst Waldschmidt, he was editor of the Sanskrit-Wörterbuch der buddhistischen Texte aus den Turfan-Funden ("Sanskrit dictionary of Buddhist texts from the Turfan finds").