A nine-year-old boy inspired by inventor Nikola Tesla is preparing to become the youngest ever graduate – with his university saying he is three times smarter than any student they’ve ever had.

Laurent Simons is studying electrical engineering at the University of Technology in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, heading down the home-straight of a degree that has taken him just nine months to complete.

It would normally take three years to graduate, but Laurent, who has an IQ of 145, will do so next month.

The boy wonder says he is looking forward to taking a holiday as the Christmas season beckons, but also already has plans to start a PhD and “study a little medicine”.

He says he wants to research artificial organs and develop a Terminator-style artificial body, with his Instagram page sporting an image of Arnold Schwarzenegger posing alongside a model of his iconic T-800 skeleton.

As for what he has been getting up to in Eindhoven, he has been working on a research project involving “placing neurons and making connections” to test the effects of different medication on the brain.

Read more: sky