Gurtu is a particle physics researcher. He participated in numerous experimental projects in collaboration with CERN, Geneva, from 1969 to 2011, as part of high energy physics group at TIFR. From 2003 to 2011, he led a 70-member Indian team which participated in CERN experiment of first proton run at the Large Hadron Collider, known as "mini Big Bang". From 2011-12 he was Distinguished Professor at the King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Currently (from March 2018) he is Eminent Scholar at Kyung Hee University, South Korea.