Klaus Mayer is a genome and bioinformatics researcher located at the Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany. He did a PhD in Plant developmental biology at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He afterwards decided to study complete chromosomes and genomes rather than focussing towards individual genes. He has been involved in plant genome analysis since almost two decades and due to his background and interest he considers himself as working at the interface of IT and bioinformatics, genome biology and molecular biology. His research team has a strong focus towards plant genomics, systems biology and developing research infrastructures for plant geneticists, molecular biologists and plant breeders. Over the last years, Klaus team was heavily engaged in supporting the sequencing and analysis of cereals and in particular the bread wheat genome.

Klaus’ scientific philosophy is very much driven by the needs and requirements of modern genome biology that asks for tight and seamless collaboration among a diversity of groups and expertises. During his “genome career” he continues to enjoy the strong collaborations among groups with diverse expertises worldwide, such as the IWGSC. Klaus Mayer became affiliated with the IWGSC back in 2009 and was leading the bioinformatics and sequence analytical part of the adventurous and challenging expedition into the bread wheat genome.