Principal Invesitgator in several research projects on the biogeochemistry of rivers, estuaries and coastal seas funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), the European Union, Volkswagen Foundation. Participated and led about 30 research expeditions to the Black Sea, Western South-Atlantic, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Indonesian and Vietnamese Coastal Waters within bilateral and multilateral (German-Turkish-US, German-Brazilian, German-Indian-US, German-Indonesian), European (Black Sea-EROS; Mekong-Delta-Project) and international projects (IGBP-JGOFS-German Arabian Sea Process Study) as well as in several small and large world rivers.

Coordination of bilateral Marine Science programs of the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (German Federal Ministry for Education and Research-BMBF) in tropical South and Southeast Asia.

Contribution to the work of several national and international organizations and scientific committees and their programs. Member of the Senate Committee for Oceanography of the DFG, Chair of German National Committee for ICSU-SCOPE (International Council of Scientific Unions-Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment), Member of Research Councils of Marine Research Institutes.

Contribution to the work of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC (Convening Lead Author Oceans in WG II, Second Assessment Report; Lead Author for Chapter: Coastal Zones and Marine Ecosystems and Chapter: Small islands WG II, Third Assessment Report:), Participation in German activities in the UNESCO-IOC, Member Executive Committee of ICSU-SCOPE.
Books:
Facets of Modern Biogeochemistry (Editors: Ittekkot, V., Kempe, S. Michaelis, W. and Spitzy, A. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg. 1989.

Monsoon Biogeochemstriy (Editors: Ittekkot, V. and Nair, R.R.), SCOPE/UNEP Special Issue of Mitt. Geol.-Paläont. Inst. Univ. Hamburg, 76, 192 pp., 1993.

Particle Flux in the Ocean (Editors: Ittekkot, V., Schäfer, P., Honjo, S. and Depetris, P.J.), SCOPE Report 57, Wiley, Chichester, 372 pp., 1996.

Biogeochemistry of the Rivers of Tropical South and Southeast Asia (Editors: Ittekkot, V., Subramanian, V. & Annadurai, S.), SCOPE Sepcial Issue of Mitt. Geol.-Paläontol. Inst. Univ. Hamburg, 82, 297 pp., 1999.

Land-Sea Nutrient Fluxes: the Silica Cycle (Editors: Nguyen Tac An, Thu, V. Ittekkot, Ch. Schnack) Collection of Marine Research Works 12, Suppl., Nha Trang Vietnam, 2002.

The Bay of Bengal (Editors: V. Ittekkot, H.Kudraß, D. Quadfasel & D. Unger) Deep Sea Research II, 2003.