Journalists compare him to astrophysicist Stephen Hawking and Nobel laureate Albert Einstein. As a genius or prodigy, Laurent Simons has always been called. Now the boy, who grew up in Belgium and the Netherlands, is about to get his bachelor's degree at the TU Eindhoven. He is only nine years old.
Since the summer of 2018, Laurent has been studying electrical engineering at the renowned university in the southeast of the Netherlands. With that, he has a steep career behind him: Even the school days in Belgium had passed through the most gifted boy with an IQ of 145 in record time. Laurent was enrolled at the age of four and only needed two years for elementary school. Then he went to high school.
When SPIEGEL Laurent's editors visited Amsterdam in the summer of last year, his father said, "We were late in discovering that he is smarter than others, and his grandparents have told us he is special, but which grandparents think so not from her grandchildren? "
Video: Home visit to the Simons in summer 2018
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At the Gymnasium, the Sint-Jozef Humaniora in Bruges, Laurent got one-to-one lessons. The teachers gave him the curriculum for two years, they uploaded the documents via Google Drive. Laurent read the material at home. At school, the teachers asked him if he understood everything and gave him the opportunity to ask.
With his Abi in his pocket, Laurent was one of the youngest graduate students in the world. Last year he went to the university in Eindhoven, his parents put their work as dentists on ice for now. Three times a week they drive Laurent from Amsterdam to Eindhoven, each with less than two hours by car.
What a child fails in the lab
Laurent is also learning at an incredible pace at university: he manages to complete the workload for which other students need eight weeks. Here, too, he receives one-to-one tuition and takes over the material independently.
"It's an adventure," said his professor the German Press Agency. "But it's so much fun." Sometimes he forgets that his super-student is still a child: Once, in the lab, Laurent could not untangle a cable because he just was not strong enough.
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Famous Wunderkinder: A doctoral degree? Dear two!Laurent is particularly interested in technology and science - which has the life of his parents, the father believes, quite upside down: "We now drive an electric car and no old diesel more," he said to dpa.
And Laurent? He says: "At some point there will be a technical solution to climate change, and we should invest a lot more in research and technology." At the end of his studies he develops a micro-chip to measure reactions of brain cells. In the field he wants to continue researching: "I want to develop something that can prolong life." Artificial organs for example.
Check out this post on Instagram
No More School Lunch! No More Early Wake-Up Calls! Loving Student Life! Whenever, Whatever! ❤️ #laurentimons #studentlife #dusseldorf #lovegermany # bobandmarydusseldorf #fun #delicious #burgers
A post shared by Laurent Simons (@laurent_simons) on Sep 27, 2018 at 4:40 PDT
Whether Laurent will do his Masters in Eindhoven or whether he will continue learning in the USA or in Germany is not yet clear. Currently, an individual doctoral program is tailored for him.
By the way, does Laurent - or his parents? - Photos on his Instagram account. They show him at his birthday party with his dog, in the summer holiday by the pool and in front of a large portion of sweet potato fritters. Next Friday, this nine-year-old will be completing his undergraduate exams.
