Professor Gordon Wallace, director of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, will join the Korean Government international collaborative project World Class University.

Nine Nobel laureates will participate, including East Timor President and 1996 Nobel Peace laureate Dr Jose Ramos-Horta.

The team, supported by $1 million from the Korean education, science and technology ministry, will visit Korean universities to establish academic programs and conduct joint research into emerging technologies.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for us to build on our already vibrant links with Korean researchers," Prof Wallace said. "We have common interests in the pursuit of more efficient energy conversion and storage systems, and complementary expertise that will help us achieve our goals."

Prof Wallace joined the UOW in 1985 and in 1990 established the world's first intelligent polymer research laboratory in NSW. He is widely recognised as a world leader of development in the field.

He is also executive research director at the Australian Research Council's centre of excellence for electromaterials science.

Last week, the NSW Government announced a joint NSW and Korean $100,000 grant to the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute.