 He received a doctorate in medical studies in Vienna in 1849.Heller was the 'Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy' at the University of Krakow in Poland from 1858 to 1863 and from 1863 until his retirement in 1894 he taught at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.Heller primarily specialised in crustaceans but also worked on bryozoans, echinoderms, pycnogonids, and tunicates.