Meet India’s Youngest PhD Holder Who Completed His MSc At 10 Years Old

For some, mathematics is surely something that can put their minds to a spin. But some truly enjoy the challenge and end up being good at it. However, there are some for whom all this is rather effortless.

We came across one such individual, who has defied odds at a very young age. Meet Tathagat Avatar Tulsi, India’s child prodigy.

Defying odds in academics
Tulsi was born on September 9th, 1987, in Patna, Bihar. Son of Supreme Court advocate Tulsi Narayan Prasad, his parents noticed his pace of learning at a very early age. He was in fact one of the youngest to ever complete his high-school, graduation, masters and PhD.

He reportedly completed his high school when he was just 9 years old — an age when kids are barely done with multiplication. In just a year, he completed his BSc followed by Masters in Science from Patna Science College at the age of 12. Speaking about his skills, he told TOI, “I believe I have a gift. When I was young and while my friends were struggling to solve mathematical problems, I would solve those easily.”

Completing his PhD from IISc Bengaluru
In August 2009, he got his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore at the age of 22. Here, his Ph.D. thesis was on “Generalizations of the Quantum Search Algorithm”. He co-authored an unpublished research manuscript (“A New Algorithm for Fixed-point Quantum Search”) with Lov Grover, the inventor of a quantum search algorithm that goes by his name.

The research paper was just 35 pages long, yet he felt it had immense potential. He said in an interview with TOI, “Despite the short length, the thesis is innovative enough to qualify as a PhD work. I was always interested in quantum computers and would like to develop software for it. Quantum computers will take us one step ahead in changing the world for the better.”

Winning awards and accolades from an early age
Tulsi has been in the limelight since a very young age. In 2001, he was shortlisted by the Indian Government’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) to participate in a Nobel laureates conference in Germany.

He has been even regarded as one of the seven most gifted Asian youngsters by TIME magazine in 2003, mentioned as “Superteen” by Science Magazine, while also being invited by Italian billionaire Luciano Benetton for a dinner in honor of Al Gore on 14 June 2007 in Milano, Italy.

Assistant Professor on contract at IIT Bombay
In 2010, after completing his PhD, he was offered a role to teach students at the prestigious IIT Bombay, when he was barely 23 years old.