Sushma Verma, the 13-year-old prodigy from Lucknow, who has got admission to Lucknow University to do a master’s programme, is considering moving to Chennai after getting an attractive offer from a private university here.
Sushma, who has been making news for completing Class XII at the age of 10, and has a number of offers pouring in, has now been offered a five-year integrated M.Sc-PhD. course from B.S. Abdur Rahman University of Science and Technology.
Besides being a fully-funded programme, the university has offered her free boarding as well as a monthly allowance, and a job to her father, according to Vice-Chancellor of the university J.A.K. Tareen.
She is yet to decide which stream she wants to pursue, but she seems inclined to take microbiology.
After the third year, the university proposed to offer her a stipend of Rs. 12,000 a month, till she completes PhD.
The five-year programme also offers her the flexibility to change streams mid-way, Prof. Tareen told The Hindu .
Speaking to The Hindu over phone, Sushma’s father, a daily wager, said that although the offer seemed really good, he would consult with others in his hometown. Right now, the entire country was taking care of his daughter’s well-being, so he would take people’s advice before making a decision, he said.
Sushma herself says that no other university had given her such an offer and although she had gotten admission to M.Sc Microbiology at the Lucknow University, she would take a look at the university and make her decision. The offer sounded attractive since she could finish her PhD in five years, she said.
Father and daughter had arrived in Chennai only on Wednesday and they would have to look around the university and the city before making the decision, she said.
Sushma has just finished her B.Sc in Zoology and Botany from the CMS degree college.
She has received several offers for financial assistance from various organisations and celebrities.
