OTTAWA (Canada) - FAMED physicist Stephen Hawking has been appointed to the position of distinguished research chair at Canada's leading scientific brain trust, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics announced Thursday.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based institute had been courting Hawking, best known for his book 'A Brief History of Time', for several months, said local media.

The position will involve extended annual visits to the institute, the first in mid-2009, said Perimeter director Neil Turok.

The appointment will not, however, affect Hawking's position at Cambridge, where he heads the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology.

'The institute's twin focus on quantum theory and gravity is very close to my heart and central to explaining the origin of the universe,' Prof Hawking said in a statement.

'I look forward to building a growing partnership between PI and our Centre for Theoretical Cosmology, at Cambridge. Our research endeavor is global, and by combining forces I believe we will reap rich rewards.'

Mr Turok said Prof Hawking is the first of 40 leading scientists from around the world to be invited to accept visiting chair positions and establish a 'second research home' in Waterloo.

The Perimeter institute, founded in 2000 with a donation from Research in Motion co-founder Mike Lazaridis, has become internationally renowned for bringing together top minds in the area of theoretical physics.

Its aim is to push the limits of understanding of physical laws and develop new ideas about the essence of space, time, matter and information. -- AFP