Jayannavar's research interests have been in the interdisciplinary areas of condensed matter physics, with special focus on theoretical condensed matter physics, Stochastic processes, non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, and classical and quantum problems in random media and physics of mesoscopic systems. High temperature superconductors, thermal ratchets and molecular motors, heat pumps at nanoscales, Anderson localization, delay times, random lasers, giant diffusion; fluctuation theorems are some of the areas he has worked on and he is reported to have made significant contributions in the elucidation of a number theoretical problems. Jayannavar's studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and the online article repository of the Indian Academy of Sciences has listed 168 of them. He was also a member of the editorial boards of science journals viz. Current Science and Pramana and sat in the executive council of Indian Physics Association from 2010 to 2012.
