Professor James Taylor PhD, FIET

Professor of Control Engineering

Profile

Professor James Taylor, Impact Champion for the School of Engineering and lead for Robotics & Control, conducts research in data-driven modelling and robust control, translating complex real-world data into predictive and decision-support tools for energy, healthcare, robotics, and environmental applications. He previously directed the Nuclear Science & Engineering Research Group (2019-2024) and has held senior departmental roles over an extended period, including Director of Teaching and Deputy Head of Engineering.

Across his career, he has contributed to a portfolio of externally funded research projects with a combined value exceeding ?20 million. These have included responsive manufacturing (EP/V051059), decommissioning robotics (EP/V026941/1), wave-energy conversion (EP/V040561/1), and adaptive medical treatment (EP/M015637/1). He currently leads Lancaster’s involvement in major collaborative initiatives, including the STAND-UP Doctoral Focal Award, and previously served as Lancaster lead for the National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (EP/R02572X/1).

He co-develops the (MATLAB), a widely used suite for system identification, time series analysis, forecasting, and control. An IET Fellow, he serves on the IET Academic Accreditation Committee, the UK Automatic Control Council Executive, and editorial boards of several Elsevier journals.

A Lancaster alumnus (BSc 1992, PhD 1996 in Environmental Science), Professor Taylor began his career as a research associate in the Lancaster Environment Centre before moving to Engineering in 2000.

Further information is available on his .

He welcomes PhD candidates interested in applying data-driven modelling and automatic control to real-world, uncertain systems.

Selected Publications


Bandala, M., Chard, P., Cockbain, N., Dunphy, D., Eaves, D., Hutchinson, D., Lee, D., Leech, G., Ma, X., Marshall, S., Murray, P., Parker, A., Stirzaker, P., Taylor, C.J., Zabalza, J., Joyce, M.J. 31/10/2025 In: Energy Conversion and Management: X. 28
Journal article


Khan, I.U., Ali, A., Taylor, C.J., Ma, X. 2025 In: IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement. 74, p. 1-12. 12 p.
Journal article


Dunphy, R.D., Parker, A.J., Bandala, M., Bennet, S., Boxall, C., Chard, P., Cockbain, N., Eaves, D., Goddard, D., Ma, X., Taylor, C.J., Wilbraham, R., Zabalza, J., Murray, P., Joyce, M.J. 13/02/2025 In: Scientific Reports. 15, 1
Journal article


Bandala Sanchez, M., Chard, P., Cockbain, N., Dunphy, D., Eaves, D., Hutchinson, D., Lee, D., Ma, X., Marshall, S., Murray, P., Parker, A., Stirzaker, P., Taylor, C.J., Zabalza, J., Joyce, M. 15/04/2024
Review article


Khan, I.U., Javaid, N., Taylor, C.J., Ma, X. 31/01/2023 In: IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. 38, 1, p. 537-548. 12 p.
Journal article


Clairon, Q., Henderson, R., Young, N., Wilson, E., Taylor, C.J. 30/03/2021 In: Biometrics. 77, 1, p. 223-236. 14 p.
Journal article


Taylor, C.J., Young, P., Chotai, A. 08/2013 Chichester : John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 360 p. ISBN: 978-1-118-52121-2. Electronic ISBN: 978-1-118-53551-6.
Book


Avery, P., Clairon, Q., Henderson, R., Taylor, C.J., Wilson, E. 1/06/2020 In: Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series C (Applied Statistics). 69, 3, p. 503-524. 22 p.
Journal article


Wilson, E.D., Clairon, Q., Henderson, R., Taylor, C.J. 2018 In: Annual Reviews in Control. 46, p. 94-106. 13 p.
Journal article


Taylor, C.J., Robertson, D. 12/2013 In: Control Engineering Practice. 21, 12, p. 1716-1725. 10 p.
Journal article


Burrell, T.I., Fozard, S., Holroyd, G.H., French, A.P., Pound, M.P., Bigley, C., Taylor, C.J., Forde, B.G. 1/03/2017 In: Plant Methods. 13, 20 p.
Journal article


Tsitsimpelis, I., Wolfenden, I., Taylor, C.J. 10/2016 In: Biosystems Engineering. 150, p. 40-53. 14 p.
Journal article


  • 06/09/2021 → 05/10/2025
    Research

  • 01/08/2021 → 30/09/2024
    Research

  • 08/04/2021 → 07/01/2026
    Research

  • 01/10/2019 → 30/09/2021
    Research

  • 01/10/2018 → 31/03/2023
    Research

  • 02/10/2017 → 31/03/2022
    Research

  • 01/08/2017 → 18/10/2017
    Research

  • 01/09/2016 → 31/03/2019
    Research

  • 01/08/2016 → 31/08/2021
    Research

  • 01/04/2016 → 30/03/2020
    Research

  • 01/11/2015 → 31/01/2019
    Research

  • 01/11/2015 → 30/10/2020
    Research

  • 01/10/2015 → 30/04/2020
    Research

  • 01/10/2015 → 30/09/2018
    Research

  • 01/10/2014 → 30/03/2016
    Research

  • 01/01/2010 → 31/12/2012
    Research
James Kennedy

James Kennedy

PhD student

  • AIRS-NFM
  • Doctorate Centre in Nuclear Engineering
  • DSAIL - Foundations
  • Energy Lancaster
  • Lancaster Intelligent, Robotic and Autonomous Systems Centre
  • LIRA - Environmental Modelling
  • LIRA - Extreme Environments
  • LIRA - Fundamentals
  • Robotics and Control
  • TALOS