At first glance, Laurent Simons looks much like any other teenager. He enjoys playing video games, swimming and watching television. But the similarities with his peers end there.
At just 15, Laurent has entered the history books as the youngest person to earn a PhD in a physical science field. Known as Belgium’s “Little Einstein”, he recently graduated from the University of Antwerp with a doctorate in quantum physics, a subject he can discuss at length, from black holes and bosons to the deepest mysteries of the universe.
With an IQ of 145 – a level reached by only about 0,1% of people worldwide – Laurent’s intelligence places him in the same rare category as figures such as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
“It’s official: Dr Simons! Just completed my PhD!” he shared with his more than 77 000 followers on Instagram. “Only way is up.”
Laurent’s academic journey has been extraordinary from the start. He finished school by the age of eight and, at 12, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics after completing a three-year course in just 18 months. Within three years of that, he had earned his doctorate.
And he is not slowing down. Immediately after his graduation ceremony, Laurent boarded a train with his father to Helmholtz Munich, a research institute in Germany, where he is beginning a second doctoral programme in medical science, with a focus on artificial intelligence.
There is a deeply personal reason behind his interest in medical science. When Laurent was 11, two of his grandparents died after suffering from heart conditions. He now wants to use his exceptional intelligence to help humans live longer lives, or even achieve immortality.
It was those same grandparents who first noticed there was something different about him. They largely raised Laurent until he was nine in Ostend, Belgium, while his parents, Alexander (43) and Lydia (35), both dentists, worked in the Netherlands. When they suggested he might be gifted, his parents were sceptical at first.
That changed quickly when Laurent started primary school at the age of four. “They noticed something very special about Laurent,” Lydia says.
His parents believe he has a photographic memory, allowing him to absorb information with remarkable speed. Lydia also jokes that Laurent, who is an only child, is so clever because she ate a lot of fish during her pregnancy.
Laurent completed high school in just 18 months. At the age of nine, he moved to Amsterdam to join his parents and began studying electrical engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. His parents hoped he could finish the three-year degree in 10 months, before his 10th birthday, which would have seen him surpass American Michael Kearney. Kearney is recognised by Guinness World Records as the youngest graduate in the world, having earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology in June 1994 at the age of 10 from the University of South Alabama.
That plan fell apart when the university said Laurent still had too many exams to complete before graduating and could not finish before turning 10. Bitterly disappointed, Laurent took to Instagram, calling the university “liars”, and by the end of 2019 he had dropped out.
“There’s a lot of interest in Laurent from universities he would be honoured to join,” his father said at the time.
“There is so much demand for Laurent, he is a unique project that everybody wants to be a part of.”
Laurent returned to Belgium, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in physics with distinction at the University of Antwerp in 18 months, followed by his master’s degree. Now, at 15, he is officially Dr Simons.
Despite this achievement, he is not the youngest person ever to earn a doctorate. That record belongs to German prodigy Karl Witte, who received a PhD in philosophy in 1814 at the age of 13.
Laurent’s parents say their son has received job offers from billionaires around the world, but money does not interest him. His focus is firmly on research into artificial organs and robotics. They say his late grandparents remain a strong source of inspiration, along with Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla, who aimed to unlock nature’s secrets to benefit humanity rather than to make a profit.
Some of Laurent’s ideas sound like science fiction, but he believes they could become reality. “For example, uploading your consciousness into some kind of robot,” he says.
“Or simply replacing the rest of your body with robotic parts, leaving only your brain. But yes, there are many possible methods to do that. A lot of research has been done on it.”
He hopes his second PhD will allow him to contribute meaningfully to this field.
Like many boys his age, Laurent loves Marvel’s hit film Iron Man, but he watches it with a critical eye. “Look at Tony Stark,” he says. “He’s the main character in Iron Man, he’s a bit of a crazy professor. He has enough funding and just the time and everything to do all sorts of things. To invent all sorts of things. For example, the Iron Man suit.”
The film has shaped how Laurent thinks about the future. Despite all he has already achieved, he insists he is only at the beginning.
“That’s how I look at it: in, say, 10 years, after I’ve gathered all the knowledge, I also want to do my own research and just have all the funding and my own laboratory to do it.
“I want to make a big impact.”
When he is not studying or doing research, Laurent still finds time for Marvel movies, video games and relaxing by the pool – reminders that, despite his remarkable mind, he is still very much a teenager.
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