Britta Engelhardt obtained a degree in Human Biology at the Medical School of the Philipps-University, Marburg in Germany in 1987. She performed her PhD thesis in the laboratory of Hartmut Wekerle (Max-Planck Clinical Research Group for Multiple Sclerosis, Würzburg and Max-Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Martinsried, Germany) and obtained a PhD in Human Biology (Dr.rer.physiol.) in January 1991.

After a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Eugene C. Butcher at Stanford University, California, she set up her own  research group at the Max- Planck Institute for Physiological and Clinical Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany in the department of Werner Risau (December 13th, 1998) in 1993.

In 1998 she obtained the Venia Legendi for Immunology and Cell Biology from the Medical Faculty of the Philipps University Marburg, Germany. From 1999 to 2003 she headed her research group as a senior group leader at the same institute and the Max-Planck-Institute for Vascular Cell Biology, Münster, Germany. Since November 2003 Britta Engelhardt is Professor for Immunobiology at the University of Bern and the Director of the Theodor Kocher Institute.