[2] Greiner obtained his PhD in 1961 at the University of Freiburg under Hans Marschall [de], with a thesis titled Nuclear polarization in muonic atoms (German: Die Kernpolarisation in μ-Mesoatomen).
In 2003, with Wolf Singer, he was the founding Director of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), and gave lectures and seminars in elementary particle physics.
[5][6][7][8][9][10] His doctoral students include Berndt Müller, Johann Rafelski[11] and Horst Stöcker.
[12] Many of his students are holders of chairs at home and abroad or employees at renowned scientific institutions.
Greiner's books cover most of theoretical physics, although there are more in the areas of his research (quantum mechanics and field theory, with applications).