UK: Man receives doctorate from university 52 years after beginning course

It has been said many times that there is no age for learning. There are numerous people across the world who reaffirm this fact, be it child prodigies or elderly people. One such person from Wells, Somerset in the United Kingdom has become the latest example of the same with his passion for research and learning. Most PhD courses are completed in five to six years. However, a 76-year-old man who  enrolled for his doctorate in 1970, finally finished it after over five decades. Dr Nick Axten, began his thesis on mathematical sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, United States in 1970. However, he returned to the UK after five years with his degree unfinished, despite having been awarded a Fulbright scholarship. Not one to leave things incomplete, he restarted his degree in 2016 with an MA in Philosophy from the University of Bristol when he was 69 years old. He then proceeded to finish his PhD in Philosophy at the same university, as per a BBC report. The 76-year-old was conferred a Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Bristol in front of his wife Claire Axten and 11-year-old granddaughter Freya. In an interview, he stated that his research had been exceptionally difficult. Dr Axten told the BBC, “Some problems are so great it takes the best part of a lifetime to get your head around them. They need a long hard think. This one has taken me 50 years.” His research is a new theory for understanding human behaviour. It is based on the values that every individual holds. Dr Axten thinks the theory has the potential to change how we view behavioural psychology. Dr Axten stated that he enjoyed his time as a mature student at the University of Bristol between 2016 and 2022. He added that all the other philosophy graduate students were about 23 years old, however, they accepted him as one of their own. He went on to say that the students were “clever and full of ideas”, and that he loved talking to them. Dr Axten lived all over the United Kingdom during a varied career, and was the creator and principal author of the school teaching programme Oxford Primary Science. Now a father of two and grandfather of four, he started his undergraduate degree in Leeds in 1967. He recalled that he started studying psychology and sociology as he wanted to understand people. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.