Emil Kirchner, an international leader in the research and teaching of European and German politics, is a professor of European Studies at the University of Essex, where he established the University's first European studies program. The Jean Monet Professor of European Integration and coordinator of the Jean Monet European Centre of Excellence, Kirchner is widely published in the areas of European security policy, European integration, EU decision-making, German politics, and European interest groups.

Kirchner received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, for his outstanding service to Anglo-German relations in teaching, research, and cultural activities. His most recent publications include EU Security Governance (with James Sperling); Global Security Governance: Competing Perceptions of Security in the Twenty-First Century (edited with James Sperling); and Europe in Change: Committee Governance in the European Union (edited with Thomas Christiansen).