Since Markus Thewes 2005 is full professor at the Institute for Tunnelling and Construction Management. Before joining Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany, he was a design engineer for tunnels, a geotechnical engineer for a TBM manufacturer, a jobsite manager for large tunnel projects, and a senior researcher at private tunnel research foundation.

He teaches the topics of Tunnel Construction and Operation at the graduate level as well as Construction Technologies and Construction Management issues at the undergraduate level. The research work at the institute focuses on Technologies for Tunnel Boring Machines, Sprayed Concrete Applications in Conventional Tunnelling, Process Simulation and Risk Management in Tunnelling, Operation and Maintenance of Tunnels and Utility Lines, as well as Safety and Security issues of Underground Structures.

Markus Thewes has published about 90 papers in journals and conference proceedings and has given over 70 lectures in seminars. He was the Vice President of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.