Vipin Sharma

Vipin Kumar Sharma has always loved learning and excelled at school, and he is eager to share his passion with others. He aims to challenge the idea that only the rich can receive a quality education, and has devoted his summers and weekends to teaching and mentoring children living in slums. To reach even more people, he runs a YouTube channel with close to 200,000 subscribers, on which he posts biology tutorials. Coming from a humble background, Vipin understands the barriers to education that people can face. He gave up a spot at a prestigious medical college far from home to care for his ailing mother, and instead attended a local university. Still, he graduated top of his class, was accepted to study at the Central University of Haryana, and is now pursuing a PhD in biochemistry.  

Vipin wants to use his experience to transform Indian education and the life chances of the country’s most underprivileged children. He has organised seminars to raise children’s awareness of sexual health, alcoholism and drug abuse, to encourage them to make better decisions for their future. He has also helped girls improve their reading skills and stay in school. Vipin is committed to helping students of all levels, and runs MarksUpp, an online learning app for medical and engineering students that so far has been downloaded more than 80,000 times. He has also written four books aimed at aspiring medical students, two of which are bestsellers. Eager to keep learning, Vipin has attended workshops all over the world, including in China, the US and Portugal. 

His contributions to science and education have not gone unnoticed, and he has received numerous accolades. For his work promoting education, he has received two National Awards from the Anti-Corruption Foundation of India. In 2020, he won the ISSN International Academic Star Prize 2020 for Outstanding Performance in Academics. That same year, he received the Young Scientist and Best Oral Presentation Awards at the India International Science Festival. Last March, California Public University granted him an honorary Doctor of Education degree.  

Vipin is determined to reach even more students in need. If he wins the Global Student Prize, he plans to use the $50,000 to build a team to work with children living in slums and campaign to ensure they have access to a quality education. The money would also be spent on providing essential learning materials to underprivileged students.