His research towards the master's degree, on the radiation chemistry of aqueous solutions, was supervised by Gideon Czapski.

During the period of 1966 to 1969, he served in the Israel Defense Forces and in 1972 completed his Ph.D. studies at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Joshua Jortner.

Current to 2012, Nitzan directs the Advanced Studies Institute at Tel Aviv University.

This was followed (1980-1990) a series of works (with Joel Gersten) on surface enhanced optical process that later led to the development of the field of molecular plasmonics, as well as works on activated rate processes and charge transfer in complex molecular environments.

In the years 1970-1980 his activity was focused on energy transfer processes in molecular systems, and during his stay at MIT, Nitzan conducted research with John Ross which predicted the existence of periodic chemical reactions in photochemical systems away from equilibrium.

A series of studies he conducted between 1975 and 1995 brought to the development of theories of chemical processes in complex molecules, and of models for the description of electron transfer in such systems.