Ramesh is the Purnendu Chatterjee Chair Professor in the Departments of Physics and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He pursues key materials physics and technological problems in complex multifunctional oxides. Using conducting oxides, he solved the 30-year enigma of polarization fatigue in ferroelectrics. He pioneered research into manganites coining the term, Colossal Magnetoresistive (CMR) Oxides. His work on multiferroics demonstrated electric field control of ferromagnetism, a critical step towards ultralow power memory and logic elements.

His extensive publications on the synthesis and materials physics of complex oxides are highly cited (over 65,000 citations, H-factor =110). He is a fellow of APS, AAAS & MRS and an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. His awards include the Humboldt Senior Scientist Prize, the APS Adler Lectureship and McGroddy New Materials Prize, the TMS Bardeen Prize and the IUPAP Magnetism Prize and Neel Medal. He was recognized as a Thomson-Reuters Citation Laureate in Physics for his work on multiferroics.

He served as the Founding Director of the successful Department of Energy SunShot Initiative, envisioning and coordinating the R and D funding of the U.S. Solar Program, spearheading the reduction in the cost of Solar Energy. He also served as the Deputy Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Associate Lab Director at LBNL.