The boy with his sights on an Oxbridge PhD – aged 9
A BOY of nine, set to become the youngest ever graduate in the world, is eyeing up a place at either Oxford or Cambridge after his astonishing feat.
As a toddler, Laurent Simons preferred to take his toys apart so he could fix, instead of playing with them. But it wasn’t until he went to primary school that his parents realised he was special.
The youngster was so bright he completed his junior studies in just two years, then did the same at senior school.
In December he is set to become the world’s youngest university graduate when he completes a degree in electrical engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, in the Netherlands. The three-year course has taken him eight months.
Now his father hopes the world’s best universities will be interested in helping his son study for a PhD.
Alexander Simons, 37, a dentist, said: ‘Laurent’s aim is to do a PhD into life extension, by carrying out research into artificial organs and robotics. It would be great if he could study in the UK.’
Laurent, who was born in Belgium, has been labelled a child genius and compared to
Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. He can also speak four languages.
Professor Peter Baltus, his tutor at Eindhoven, said: ‘He is three times smarter than the best student I’ve met.’
But Mr Simons and his wife Lydia, 29, insist Laurent is still a normal child who enjoys gokarting and playing Minecraft and Fortnite with his friends.
Laurent has ambitions to revolutionise cardiac surgery because both his grandparents have heart problems. ‘My goal as a scientist is to prolong the human lifespan,’ he said.