Peter Hänggi earned his Ph.D. from the University of Basel, Switzerland, studying stochastic processes far from equilibrium. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, the University of Stuttgart, and the University of California San Diego. From 1980 to 1986, he was an Assistant and Associate Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York. Since 1986, he has been a Full Professor at the University of Augsburg.

His research has significantly advanced statistical physics, particularly in Brownian motors, stochastic resonance, quantum tunneling, relativistic Brownian motion, and quantum thermodynamics.

Peter Hänggi is a recipient of numerous scientific awards. Among his most significant honors are:
- 2024 Honorary Medal "De scientia et humanitate optime meritis," Czech Academy of Sciences, awarded jointly with Nobel Laureate John Cromwell Mather.
- 2023 Lars Onsager Prize, American Physical Society
- 2011 Lars Onsager Lecture and Medal
- 2018 Blaise Pascal Medal
- 2006 Marian Smoluchowski Medal, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
- 2019 Marian Smoluchowski–Emil Warburg Prize, German and Polish Physical Societies

He has also received over 10 honorary doctorates and holds memberships in prestigious academies, including:
- German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
- European Academy of Sciences (EURASC)
- Foreign Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy (Academia Română)
- International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance (AIIA), Hong Kong, China