MSc Advanced Control and Systems Engineering with Extended Research

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,700 year 1, £7,350 year 2 (22,050.00 on offer letter)
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £38,400 year 1, £19,200 year 2 (£57,600.00 on offer letter)

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We offer a number of postgraduate taught scholarships and awards to outstanding UK and international students each year.

The University of Manchester is committed to widening participation in master's study, and allocates £300,000 in funding each year. Our Manchester Master's Bursaries are aimed at widening access to master's courses by removing barriers to postgraduate education for students from underrepresented groups.

We also welcome the best and brightest international students each year and reward excellence with a number of merit-based scholarships. See our range of master’s scholarships for international students .

And, if you have completed an undergraduate degree at The University of Manchester, or are currently in your final year of an undergraduate degree with us, you may be eligible for a discount of 10% on tuition fees if you choose to study on a taught postgraduate course here. Find out if you're eligible and how to apply .

For more information on master's tuition fees and studying costs, visit the University of Manchester funding for master's courses website to help you plan your finances.

• Characteristics of nonlinear behaviour, linearized models.
• Phase-plane methods; approximate construction of state trajectories.
• Describing functions; use in predicting oscillations.
• Stability theory, Lyapunov functions; methods of construction and use K-Y lemma; circle criteria.
• Compensation for nonlinearities; feedback linearization.
• Integrator backstepping and iterative backstepping design.
• Model reference control and model reference adaptive control of linear systems; adaptive laws and stability analysis.
• Robust issues in adaptive control, dead-zoon and sigma modifications in adaptive laws.
• Adaptive control of nonlinear systems and adaptive backstepping

The course unit unit aims to:

• Enable the stability and performance analysis and design of nonlinear systems and controllers.
• Enable the use of control schemes which adapt to unknown and/or slowly varying systems

On successful completion of the course, a student will be able to:

ILO 1: Demonstrate knowledge of the principal structures used for adaptive control systems.

ILO 2: Design adaptive controllers, for linear and nonlinear systems.

ILO 3: Use backstepping design for control of nonlinear systems.

ILO 4: Apply the describing function method to nonlinear feedback systems.

ILO 5: Use the relevant simulation tools, and apply parameter estimation methods, in other areas.

ILO 6: Obtain locally linearized models for nonlinear dynamic systems.

ILO 7: Demonstrate knowledge of the effects of non-linearities on the operation of control systems.

ILO 8: Show an understanding of methods for reducing nonlinear effects in control systems.

ILO 9: Implement adaptive control schemes for engineering systems.

ILO 10: Simulate nonlinear control systems using Matlab and Simulink.

Unseen Written Examination

Four questions, each with 25 marks.  Answer all questions

Length of examination: 2 hours

Calculators are permitted in this examination

The maximum mark for this examination forms 70% of the total unit assessment

Course Work Not Based On Laboratory Attendance

coursework 1: Control design for nonlinear systems and simulation studies

Submission date: Friday Week 2, 2nd semester

The maximum mark for coursework1 forms 15% of the total unit assessment

Coursework2: Adaptive control design for nonlinear systems and simulation studies

Submission date: Friday Week 3, 2nd semester

The maximum mark for coursework2 forms 15% of the total unit assessment

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• Applied nonlinear control by Slotine, J.-J. E. Prentice Hall, 1991.
• Nonlinear systems by Khalil, Hassan K. Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2000.
• Nonlinear systems analysis  by Vidyasagar, M. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM 3600 Market Street Floor 6 Philadelphia PA 19104), 2002.
• Nonlinear dynamical systems by Cook, P. A. Prentice Hall, 1994.
• Nonlinear and adaptive control systems by Ding, Zhengtao. The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2013.
• Robust adaptive control by Petros A. Ioannou, Jing Sun . Prentice Hall, 1996. 
• Stable adaptive systems by  Narendra, Kumpati S. Dover Publications, 2005.
• Nonlinear and adaptive control design by Krstić, Miroslav. Wiley, 1995.
• Robot Manipulator Control: Theory and Practice by Frank L. Lewis, Darren M. Dawson, Chaouki T. Abdallah. CRC Press, 2003.
• Control of Complex Systems by Herrmann, G ; Na, J ; Mahyuddin, M.Nasiruddin. Elsevier Inc, 2016.