The Research Group "Genome Research of Industrial Microorganisms" is headed by Prof. Dr. Alfred Puehler and Prof. Dr. A. Tauch. A. Puehler held the Chair of Genetics at Bielefeld University until September 2008 when he changed position and became Senior Research Professor at the Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) at Bielefeld University.

A. Puehler was involved in the setup of the CeBiTec as a central research unit of Bielefeld University. As one of the founding members he initiated the development of the Institute for Genome Research and Systems Biology. In addition, he took part in the establishment of the Technology Platform Genomics implementing all „omics“ technologies, namely genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics.

In 2014, A. Pühler was appointed by the BMBF to act as coordinator for the German Network for Bioinformatics infrastructure (de.NBI). Two years later, he was also appointed by the BMBF to fill the position of Head of Node of the German ELIXIR node.