Alexander Lanzon

Prof. Alexander Lanzon holds the Chair in Control Engineering at the University of Manchester, is the Director of the Control, Dynamics and Robotics Laboratory, and is the Head of Department for the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He served as Department Head of Research between 2023 and 2025, as Deputy Head of Department between 2024 and 2025, as Head of Division (Control, Robotics, Communications and Signal Processing) between 2017 and 2022, as Deputy Head of Division (Information Engineering) between 2015 and 2017, and as Deputy Director of Research between 2013 and 2015 in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester.

Prior to joining the University of Manchester, Alexander held research and academic positions at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Australian National University, and industrial positions at ST-Microelectronics Ltd., Yaskawa Denki (Tokyo) Ltd. and National ICT Australia Ltd. He received his Ph.D. degree in Control Engineering and his M.Phil. degree in Robot Control from the University of Cambridge in 2000 and 1997 respectively and received his B.Eng.(Hons). degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Malta in 1995. He is a Chartered Engineer.

Prof. Lanzon is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, the Institute of Measurement and Control, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS) between 2023 and 2024, as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control between 2012 and 2019, and a Subject Editor for the International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control between 2012 and 2015.

• Fellow IET
• Fellow IMA
• Fellow InstMC
• Senior Member IEEE
• Life Senior Member AIAA

Ph.D. (Cambridge), M.Phil. (Cambridge), B.Eng. (Hons).

I am interested in robust feedback control of linear and nonlinear dynamical systems. Topics of interest include:

• Robust feedback stability analysis and control

• Input/output nonlinear control theory

• Dissipativity, passivity, and negative imaginary systems theory

• Applications of advanced control methods in robotics, UAVs, and motion systems

Highly capable graduate students wishing to read for a PhD degree in Control Engineering with me are encouraged to contact me via email in the first instance, sending me their CV and their detailed transcripts of previous university studies.

I am interested in supervising PhD students in robust feedback stability analysis and control; input/output nonlinear control theory; dissipativity, passivity, and negative imaginary systems theory; and applications of advanced control methods in robotics, UAVs, and motion systems.

Highly competitive PhD scholarships are available for both UK and foreign citizens. PhD applications must be received sufficiently early to meet the deadlines of many of these scholarships. A list of available scholarships is provided at PhD scholarship opportunities in Engineering wherein you can read about the corresponding eligibility criteria and scholarship rules.

If a prospective PhD student has their own funds (e.g. private or a government scholarship) to cover all the costs of their PhD studies, it is highly advisable to explicitly state this when you initially contact me as competition is more fierce for students who seek scholarship support in addition to admission.

After initial preliminary email contact with me, strong candidates will be encouraged to submit a formal PhD application form. In order for your formal University application to be directed to me once it is received by the central administration offices, please make sure you write Prof A Lanzon (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering) under "Proposed Research Supervisor".