An exceptional 11-year-old genius, Laurent Simons has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Antwerp, Belgium, completing the three-year course in a record time of just one year.
Laurent Simons who hailed from the Belgian coastal town of Ostend also took Master’s courses simultaneously with his Bachelor’s degree studies. The child prodigy has been setting records right from a young age.
At the age of 8, he earned his High School Diploma, completing all the grade level courses in just 1.5 years. Laurent’s brilliance was discovered by his grandparent who narrated his prowess to his parent – Lydia and Alexander Simmons.
His parent did not believe at first. “They noticed something very special about Laurent,” Lydia, Laurent’s mother narrated. Laurent was enrolled to take multiple tests to figure out the best course of action for his education.
His performance in the tests led him to complete his classes even faster than the college-aged students at the university.
Speaking about his outstanding performance, Laurent said he does not care if he was the youngest to achieve the feat but only interested in acquiring knowledge. “I don’t really care if I’m the youngest. For me, it’s all about acquiring knowledge,” Simons told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
Laurent expressed that he has a keen interest in classical and quantum physics as he aspires to make human beings immortal. “This is the first puzzle piece in my goal of replacing body parts with mechanical parts,” Simons said.
He noted that he has mapped out a path to get there and that it involves Quantum Physics – the study of the smallest particles. To solve that puzzle, he said, “I want to work with the best professors in the world, look inside their brains, and find out how they think.”
Laurent Simons is now in line to obtain his Master’s degree in physics from the University of Antwerp and subsequently earn his PhD.
