Kilian studied Mathematics at the University of Bonn. He wrote his masters thesis on “Modelling immune cell interactions in lymphoid organs” with Prof. Kevin Thurley at the university hospital Bonn. In 2024, he started a PhD in mathematical epidemiology at the “Bonn Center for Mathematical Life Sciences” supervised by Prof. Jan Hasenauer. He works on the software framework “MEmilio” and develops models for disease spread among livestock.