Hans Merket joined the International Peace Information Service (IPIS) as a researcher in 2016. IPIS, based in Antwerp, is the only non-African member of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition (KP CSC). As civil society watchdog to the Kimberley Process, the KP CSC pushes for responsible diamond governance. IPIS supports the Coalition as a research institute with its analyses and expertise on issues of natural resources, conflict mapping, and business & human rights.

Hans coordinates IPIS' work within the KP CSC and IPIS' broader research program on (ir)responsible diamond mining and trade. With IPIS, Hans studied and mapped artisanal and small-scale mining in countries like DRCongo, Tanzania, and the Central African Republic, as well as the impact of large-scale mining on adjacent communities. He was part of the KP CSC core team following the last three-year reform cycle of the Kimberley Process (2017-2019), where participating states again failed to reach a consensus on broadening the scope of the KP certification scheme. Hans has a Ph.D. in law from Ghent University in Belgium.