NANJING - A German scientist who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 2007 joined a Chinese university on Saturday.

Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, in Nanjing, capital city of eastern China's Jiangsu Province, has set up a Peter Research Center and Nobel Prize Winner Workshop to welcome Peter Grunberg.

"I have visited China many times over the past 23 years and felt the great changes in this country," said 73-year-old Grunberg at a ceremony. He said he was very honored to join the university.

Phonon lasers research was still at an early stage internationally and Grunberg's team would try to make some breakthroughs in basic studies, said Wang Yongjin, a key member of the innovation team.

The Jiangsu provincial government and the university will initially spend about 20 million yuan (about 3.2 million US dollars) to buy equipment and recruit staff for the research.

French scientist Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg of Germany won the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of giant magnetoresistance.