Meyer was born on May 17, 1968, in Herne, Germany. He studied chemistry at the Ruhr University Bochum, receiving his diploma (in chemistry) in May 1995. In summer 1995, Meyer then joined the laboratory of Professor Karl Wieghardt at the Max Planck Institute for Radiation Chemistry, where he worked on the synthesis of novel high-valent nitrido complexes of manganese, chromium and iron. These nitrido complexes were generated by the photolysis of the corresponding azido complexes. Meyer graduated in January 1998 with his Ph.D. He then moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a DFG Postdoctoral Fellow in 1998 to conduct research in the laboratory of Professor Christopher Cummins. AT MIT, Meyer worked on amido complexes of uranium with novel amido ligands and dinitrogen cleavage with heterobimetallic complexes of niobium and molybdenum.