1961. gadā sāka aspirantūras studijas PSRS Zinātņu akadēmijas Fizikas institūtā (krievu: Физический институт имени П. Н. Лебедева АН СССР), kuras beidza 1964. gadā ar kandidāta disertācijas aizstāvēšanu. Strādāja par LZA Fizikas institūta vecāko zinātnisko līdzstrādnieku (1965—1985) un vadošo pētnieku (1986—1993).
1994. gadā Agris Gailītis tika ievēlēts par profesoru. 1996. gadā kļuva par Teorētiskās fizikas laboratorijas vadītāju un 1998. gadā par Fizikas institūta direktoru, 2006. gadā par direktora vietnieku.[1]
1999. gada novembrī A. Gailīša vadībā tika veikts Rīgas dinamo eksperiments, kas izskaidoja zemes magnētiskā lauka ģenerācijas mehānismu.[2]
A. Gailitis, O. Lielausis, G. Gerbeth, F. Stefani. Dynamo Magnetohydrodynamics: Historical Evolution and Trends, eds. S.Molokov, R.Moreau, H.K.Moffatt; Springer, 2007, Series "Fluid Mechanics and Its Applications" (series editor R. Moreau), pp. 37-54.
A. Gailitis, O. Lielausis, E. Platacis, G. Gerbeth, F. Stefani. Riga Dynamo Experiment. In: NATO Science Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, vol.26 "Dynamo and Dynamics, a Mathematical Challenge" (eds. P.Chossat, D.Armbruster, I.Oprea), Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2001, pp.9-16
A. Gailitis. Mathematical background for Riga Dynamo experiment. Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics, Vol 107, 2013
F. Stefani, A. Gailitis and G. Gerbeth. Energy oscillations and a possible route to chaos in a modified Riga dynamo. Astron. Nachr. 2011 Vol. 1, pp. 4-10
E. Karule, A. Gailitis. Above threshold ionisation of atomic hydrogen in ns states with up to four excess photons. J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 43 (2010)
A. Gailitis, G. Gerbeth, Th. Gundrum, O. Lielausis, E. Platacis, F. Stefani. History and results of the Riga dynamo experiment. Comptes Rendus Physique No. 9 (2008), pp.721-728.
F. Stefani, A. Gailitis, G. Gerbeth. Magnetohydrodynamic experiments on cosmic magnetic fields. Z. Angew. Math. Mech. 88(2008), pp. 930-954
F. Stefani, A. Gailitis, G. Gerbeth, Th. Gundrum, M. Xu.Forward and inverse problems in MHD: Numerical and experimental results. GAMM-Mitteilungen 30 (2007), pp.159-170.
S. Kenjere´s, K. Hanjali´c, S. Renaudier, F. Stefani, G. Gerbeth, A. Gailitis. Coupled fluid-flow and magnetic-field simulation of the Riga dynamo experiment. Plasma Physics 13, 2006
A. Gailitis, O. Lielausis, E. Platacis, G. Gerbeth, F. Stefani. Riga dynamo experiment and its theoretical background. Phys. Plasmas, 2004, vol.11, pp.2838-2843.
E.Karule, A.Gailitis The closed form of the second-order energy shift for the discrete spectrum of atomic hydrogen. J.Phys. B.: At. Mol. Opt. Phys., 2004, vol.37, pp.829-841.
E.Karule, A.Gailitis. AC-Stark shift of the ground state of atomic hydrogen. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics (Special issue), 2004, B78, pp.817-820.
R.Avalos-Zuniga, F.Plunian, A.Gailitis. Influence of electromagnetic boundary conditions onto the onset of dynamo action in the laboratory experiments. Phys.Rev. E. 2003, vol.68, art.066307
A.Gailitis, O.Lielausis, E.Platacis, G.Gerbeth, F.Stefani. Riga Dynamo Experiment. Surveys in Geophysics, 2003, vol.24, pp.247-267,
A.Gailitis, O.Lielausis, E.Platacis, S.Dement’ev, A.Cifersons, G.Gerbeth, Th.Gundrrum, F.Stefani, M.Christen, G.Will. Dynamo experiments at the Riga sodium facility. Magnetohydrodynamics, 2002, vol.38, No 1-2, pp.5-14.
A.Gailitis, O.Lielausis, E.Platacis, G.Gerbeth, F.Stefani. On the results of Riga Dynamo Experiment. Magnetohydrodynamics, 2001, vol.37, No.1-2, pp. 3-12.
A.Gailitis, O.Lielausis, S.Dement'ev, E.Platacis, A.Cifersons, G.Gerbeth, T.Gundrum, F.Stefani, M.Christen, H.Haenel, G.Will. Magnetic field saturation in the Riga Dynamo Experiment. Phys.Rev.Lett., 2001, vol.86, pp.3024-3027
A.Gailitis, O.Lielausis, S.Dement'ev, E.Platacis, A.Cifersons, G.Gerbeth, T.Gundrum, F.Stefani, M.Christen, H.Haenel, G.Will. Detection of a flow induced magnetic field eigenmode in the Riga Dynamo Facility. Phys.Rev.Lett., 2000, vol.84, pp.4365-4368
M.Gailitis, A.Gailitis. Photoabsorption of atomic hydrogen in an external DC electric field. Journ.Phys.B., Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 1996, vol.29, pp. 4081-4091