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Prof. Dr. Helmut Koch (Photo: Udo Kurilla/GSI) is active in PANDA since the early days and contributed in a countless number of activities to bring the project forward.

He is a driving force in spectroscopy with antiprotons already before the LEAR (Low Energy Antiproton Ring) era when the search for deeply bound proton-antiproton-states, the so called baryonium, was his main field of activity. As the spokesperson of Crystal Barrel at LEAR he led the construction of the detector and shaped the collaboration with his smooth but clear management style. When he moved to the Ruhr-University Bochum, he made this institute the spearhead for PANDA in Germany e.g. by publishing the very first LOI that finally led to the proposal for the FAIR facility as we know it – including the antiproton facility and PANDA. He served in PANDA also in a variety of committees, boards and was always focused to the timely realization of the project with constructive and practical input.

In recognition of his engagement and achievements, the PANDA collaboration awarded to him the "PANDA Honorary Lifetime Membership" for his "Outstanding Service to the PANDA Collaboration and the Field of Hadron Physics".

The certificate and the medal were presented by the PANDA Spokesperson on November 7, 2018 at the Festive Dinner at the recent PANDA Collaboration Meeting in Darmstadt. The laudatory speech was given by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wiedner (Ruhr-University Bochum) who has been working with Helmut Koch since decades.