Gerrit Kurtz is a research associate with the Global Public Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization in Berlin. Kurtz works on such areas as global security governance, including peacekeeping, sanctions and protection of at-risk populations, as well as international norms, Indian foreign policy and the conflict in Sri Lanka.

He is a co-author of "Protection and Responsibility: An Analysis of US Foreign Policy to Prevent Mass Atrocities," a study commissioned by the Heinrich Boll Foundation.

Previously, Kurtz was a research fellow for the chair of international organizations and public policy at the University of Potsdam; before that he was a fellow with the Carlo Schmid Program in the United Nations Department of Political Affairs.

Kurtz has a master's degree in international relations through a joint program with the Free University in Berlin, the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Potsdam. He holds a bachelor's degree in governance and public policy from the University of Passau. He speaks English, French and German.