Dr. Piara Singh Gill was the pioneer of advanced cosmic ray research; Image Source: beaninspirer.com

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In the middle of the ocean, he stood in his deck realizing this was the dream he was living for! He did it and after years of hard work it finally paid off. It was the year of 1936 when Piara Singh Gill got enrolled as a research scholar at the University of Chicago in the area of latitude effect of cosmic rays.

> It was no less than a dream coming true for Piara Singh Gill when he got to know that he will get guided for his thesis by the *Nobel Prize for Physics recipient of 1927*, Arthur Holly Compton, whose discovery of *Compton effect* proved to be a milestone for further research in the nuclear sciences.
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Piara alongside the team of scientists helped in collection of the data from across the ocean for their ambitious study and exploration of cosmic rays and its effects. He departed for numerous voyages extending from Vancouver in Canada to Tasmania in Australia, during his research period. The most awaited day was here and Gill was conferred with his doctorate in Physics in 1940, for his paper on the *Size frequency distribution of cosmic ray bursts* along with which he also created a cosmic ray instrument. The equipment was later gifted by Compton to Chicago University when Gill expressed his desire to go back to India and work for his motherland. He also declined a lucrative offer by Compton to pursue his Post doctorate there and continue with the research but when the mother calls her child, he pays heed to none and sets off back to his mother’s lap. So did Gill!

Upon arriving in India, he was given a warm welcome. Dr. Piara Singh Gill played the key role in setting up the foundations of nuclear research in India by setting up various labs and observatories. He immediately began his work on the azimuthal variations in cosmic ray intensity across the regions of Gulmarg, Lahore and Srinagar which was instrumental in continuation of his research in India and setting up of Research Observatory in Gulmarg. This was a joint effort of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Kashmir University. He also built Central Scientific Instruments Laboratory in Chandigarh to perpetuate scientific interests in Indian soil through precise equipment.

Experimental physics gained a strong espousal under Dr. Piara who chaired the Physics Section of Indian Science Congress as the President in 1954 who was significant in painting a bright future of young Indian minds in sciences. He was a fellow of various scientific associations like the American Physical Society, National Academy of Sciences in Allahabad and Indian Physical society which helped in giving the experimental physics in nuclear research its long-lost limelight. He eventually got promoted as the Foreign Secretary of INSA and the President of Optical Society of India.

> In association with Homi Jehangir Bhabha, he was appointed as a research professorship fellow of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1947. His scholarly achievements led Prime Minister Nehru to propose his appointment as the Officer on special duty with the Atomic Energy Commission in New Delhi.
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The cover of Piara Singh Gill's autobiography gives us an insight about the struggles of the scientists those days; Image Source:Sikhchic.com

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In his autobiography Up against odds: Autobiography of an Indian scientist, Dr. Gill writes how as an Indian scientist his success paved way for the budding intellects in India. Piara singh penned how he would reach his school walking long distances in his childhood, as the schools were quite distant before flying to the USA for further studies. His life is an inspiration and an impressive example of the saying, where there is a will, there is a way for Gill!

After getting conferred with his doctorate and supervised by Nobel laureate Arthur Compton this great Indian nuclear scientist returned to his motherland, with dreams to pioneer the research and scholarship of advanced nuclear cosmic rays in India.