Robin Teufel studied Biology at the University of Freiburg (Germany) with a focus on Microbiology and obtained his Diploma in 2008 in the group of Prof. Dr. Georg Fuchs by studying a novel CO₂ fixation pathway in archaea. During his succeeding PhD studies in the same group, he investigated the biochemistry and enzymology of aerobic phenylacetic acid catabolism in bacteria. These studies led to the serendipitous discovery of a pathway shunt product that serves as precursor for tropone natural products, which sparked his interest in secondary metabolism and natural product biosynthesis. Following the completion of his PhD thesis in October 2011, he consequently pursued his DFG- and NIH funded postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Bradley Moore (University of California San Diego, USA) from January 2012 until December 2014. During this time, he investigated the biosynthesis of bacterial secondary metabolites, which included the mechanistic and structural investigation of key enzymes required for pharmacophore formation of bacterial meroterpenoid and polyketide natural products. He returned to the University of Freiburg in January 2015 to establish his independent research as a DFG-funded Emmy Noether group leader. During this time, he focused mostly on the investigation of the biosynthesis and underlying enzymology of bacterial aromatic polyketides and tropone natural products. In April 2020, he received follow-up grants and further support from the DFG as Heisenberg group leader. He completed his habilitation and obtained the Venia Legendi in Microbiology at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Freiburg in October 2020. In January 2022, he took the current position as Head of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel (Switzerland).

His current work mostly centers on the discovery and characterization of natural products from plants and microorganisms as possible candidates for the development of novel drugs. In addition, biosynthetic pathways and involved enzymes are being investigated with the aim of generating novel bioactive natural product derivatives (e.g. with antibiotic or anticancer activity).