Felix Gerdes studied political science and sociology at the University of Hamburg and spent two semesters abroad at the University of Dakar. He then completed his doctorate with a thesis on the political economy of peacebuilding in Liberia. After a subsequent post-doctoral research project at the University of Hamburg, he worked for one and a half years as a lecturer at Zaman University, Phnom Penh. From 2015 to 2021, Felix Gerdes worked as a consultant and lecturer at the University of Liberia in Monrovia as part of the Civil Peace Service program. In his academic career, he has worked and published in particular on conflicts, state-building, political economy and development policy in African and Asian countries. Since September 2021, Felix Gerdes has been working for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), for which he headed the office in Côte d'Ivoire until the beginning of 2024. In June 2024, he assumed the position of Resident Representative of the FES office in Bangladesh.