In Memoriam: PD Dr Philipp Köker

We are heartbroken to announce the death of our dear former colleague Philipp, who has passed away at the age of 40.

Philipp was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Politics and IR between 2016-2018. He joined us following the completion of his PhD at University College London. His thesis on presidential activism in Central and Eastern Europe won the ECPR Jean Blondel PhD Prize for the best thesis in politics and was published by Palgrave in 2017

Philipp returned to Germany in 2018 and worked in the Department of Political Science at Leibniz University Hannover. He recently completed a secondment at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. His research on party politics and his eloquence as a public speaker made him ideally placed to act as a political commentator and he frequently featured on German news broadcasts.

Philipp was a really special character. He was funny, kind and patient. His love of the Spice Girls and the horror film genre may not have seemed to fit with his classy dress code – any excuse for a bow tie – and yet it was what made him perfectly him. On reflection, it was a surprise that he was only in Canterbury for two years as our memories are so vivid.

Philipp made significant contributions to Team Politics. His role in supporting and driving forward our successful REF return was incalculable. He worked closely with Professor Amelia Hadfield supporting the activities of CEFEUS, the Centre for European Studies. He taught Research Methods – never a fun task – and succeeded in making our students as enthusiastic as he was about the material.

One of Philipp’s most important contributions to Team Politics was to breathe new life into our social media accounts, live-tweeting with wit and skill. It does mean sadly that he was usually behind the camera and we don’t have as many photos as we would like. However, we share some of our favourites here: