diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/controllers/VariablesApi.java b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/controllers/VariablesApi.java
index 6cfb3e8739928964b2c63f0c1b446747e05c425c..d49afd7046ca74395b7a00ee2d767c98a236f982 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/controllers/VariablesApi.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/hbp/mip/controllers/VariablesApi.java
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ public class VariablesApi {
         }
         if (element.has("variables")){
             for (JsonElement var : element.getAsJsonArray("variables")){
+                JsonObject grp = new JsonObject();
+                grp.addProperty("code", element.getAsJsonPrimitive("code").getAsString());
+                grp.addProperty("label", element.getAsJsonPrimitive("label").getAsString());
+                var.getAsJsonObject().add("group", grp);
                 variables.add(new Gson().toJson(var));
             }
         }