Luc Montagnier, a Nobel Laureate credited with the discovery of HIV, starts working as a full-time professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University today.

A ceremony was held on Thursday to celebrate his appointment.

The university also unveiled a research center named after him at the Minhang District campus, where Montagnier can pursue his studies on bacteria and viral diseases.

Montagnier will invite 20 to 30 researchers from world-class institutes, including Harvard University, to join his research team at the center.

Zhang Jie, president of Jiao Tong, said: "It is not professor Montagnier's title as a Nobel prize winner that attracted us, it is his strong commitment to research."

Montagnier said he will strive to find a therapy for AIDS to make a contribution to human health.

It is rare for a Nobel prize winner to work as a full-time professor in China. Montagnier said the recruitment of a whole team for his research attracted him.

Luc Antoine Montagnier, received the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of HIV.