15-year-old gets PhD in physics, wants to help humans live longer. Meet Laurent Simons

Laurent Simmons's parents have turned down offers from tech giants in the US and China, insisting his research should benefit medicine. (Image credit: Instagram)

Belgian child prodigy Laurent Simons has officially become a doctor in quantum physics at just 15 years old. On Monday, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis at the University of Antwerp, marking a milestone that has stunned the scientific world.

Laurent believes he may be the youngest person to earn a PhD, according to VTM Nieuws. His achievement crowns a journey that began years ago: graduating high school at eight, completing a bachelor’s degree in physics at 12, and finishing a master’s in record time. “After this, I’ll start working towards my goal: creating ‘super-humans’,” he told the media house.

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Quest for immortality

Laurent’s ambitions go beyond academic accolades. His lifelong goal is to extend human life expectancy — ultimately making humans biologically immortal.

“I want to combine physics, chemistry, medicine and AI,” he has said in earlier interviews. His parents, Alexander and Lydia, have turned down offers from tech giants in the US and China, insisting his research should benefit medicine.

From black holes to bosons

Laurent’s master’s research explored analogies between boson states and black holes, studying Bose–Einstein condensates at ultra-cold temperatures. He also completed an internship at Germany’s Max Planck Institute, working on quantum optics and early cancer detection using AI-driven plasma analysis.

“We trained a machinery algorithm so it can distinguish between cancer patients and healthy individuals,” he explained.

Unfazed by wealth and fame

Despite offers from billionaires and global corporations, Laurent remains focused. “The money can maybe be used to build a lab,” he said, laughing off concerns about wealth. “I’m still a minor. My parents need to make these decisions.”

Next stop: medical science

Immediately after his PhD defense, Laurent traveled to Munich to begin a second doctoral program in medical science, focusing on artificial intelligence. “It’s actually separate from physics,” his father told VTM, underscoring Laurent’s interdisciplinary approach.