The joint ACE & UKACC Control Conference 2026, a flagship conference for the automatic control community, will take place from 23–25 June 2026, bringing together the UK control community for three days of discussion, exchange, and engagement across academia, industry, and practice. The conference will be hosted at Newcastle University’s Frederick Douglass Centre, offering modern facilities in the heart of a vibrant and accessible city.

The United Kingdom Automatic Control Council (UKACC) International Conference on Control is the biannual conference of the UK Automatic Control Council, the UK national member organisation of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). This year the conference is jointly hosted with the ACE Network with distinct thematic focuses:

• Day 1 (23 June): ACE Forum, with a programme focused on community, policy, and industrial engagement
• Days 2–3 (24–25 June): UKACC Conference, featuring technical presentations and posters

Key Dates

Submission Guideline

The ACE & UKACC ‘Control Conference 2026’ invites the submission of extended abstracts presenting original research in control, automation and related areas. This year, we have moved from full papers and multiple tracks to a concise, interactive format to foster discussion and engagement. Submissions will be evaluated for inclusion as either single-track oral presentation or a poster presentation. Extended abstracts should clearly articulate the technical contribution, methodology, and significance of the work, even if results are preliminary. The final decision on the presentation format will be made by the technical program committee based on the evaluation criteria.

All submissions will be handled electronically through EasyChair.

Scope

CONTROL 2026 provides a national forum for the presentation and discussion of current research in automatic control engineering. The conference welcomes contributions spanning theoretical, computational, experimental, and applied aspects of control, including emerging areas at the interface with machine learning, autonomy, robotics, energy systems, and other disciplines where control thinking plays a central role.

Submissions may present mature results, ongoing research, methodological advances, novel applications, or new research directions. Particular emphasis is placed on clarity of ideas, technical insight, and the potential to stimulate discussion and collaboration across the UK control community and beyond.

Conference Format

CONTROL 2026 follows a concise, abstract-led programme designed to maximise discussion, visibility, and cross-community engagement. We invite contributions of up to two pages in the form of an extended abstract which will be used to select oral presentations and poster contributions. This will be used to inform the selection of oral presentations and poster contributions.  The conference particularly encourages submissions from early-career researchers and PhD students, with posters and talks offering an excellent platform for feedback and visibility.

Authors of accepted extended abstracts will have opportunities to:

• Present complete or in-progress work as an oral presentation within a single-track programme

• Showcase early-stage and applied work through a dedicated poster session 

• Engage directly with the UK control community, industry partners, and policymakers 

• Compete for the Best Poster Award

• Publish extended work subsequently in other venues (no copyright is retained)

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts will be evaluated on the basis of a two-page (A4) submission in PDF format.

• Abstract (100–200 words): A standalone summary of the work, its contribution, and its significance. This should be self-contained, as it will appear in the conference programme if the submission is accepted.

• Technical Content: Use the remaining space to expand upon the central question, approach, results, and contributions of the work. Figures and equations are welcome where they enhance clarity.

• Formatting Requirements

• • A4 paper, two-column format, single-spaced

  • 11pt font for main text; 10pt permitted for figure captions and references

  • Minimum 1.27 cm margins on all sides

  • All figures and tables must be legible in grayscale

  • References are included within the two-page limit

  • Submissions exceeding two pages will have additional pages removed

• Originality and Prior Publication: Submissions must present original work that has not been previously published. Since CONTROL 2026 uses an extended abstract format and does not retain copyright, concurrent submission of the full work to journals or other conferences is permitted. Abstracts (100–200 words) of all accepted submissions will be published in the conference proceedings and circulated to participants.

• Submission Method

• • Extended abstracts must be submitted in PDF format via the designated conference submission system.

  • At least one author must register and present the work if accepted.

• Evaluation Criteria:

• • Extended abstracts will be evaluated based on technical quality, clarity of presentation, and relevance to the UKACC and ACE communities.

Conference Themes

We welcome submissions across all areas of control engineering, including theoretical, computational, experimental, and applied work, as well as emerging and interdisciplinary topics. 

Organising Committees

General Chair

Daniel Coca, Newcastle University

General Co-Chairs

Antonis Papachristodoulou, University of Oxford

Abolfazl Lavaei, Newcastle University

William Heath, Bangor University

Programme Chairs

Amy Nejati, Newcastle University

Allahyar Montazeri, Lancaster University

Industry, Sponsorship & Engagement Chair 

Matthew Armstrong, Newcastle University

ECR Chair

Fulvio Forni, University of Cambridge

Publicity Chair

Hamed Rezaee, Newcastle University

EDI Chair

Francesca Boem, University College London

Award Chair

Damian Giaouris, Newcastle University

Local Arrangements & Registration Chair 

Kate Kelly, Newcastle University

Website Chair

Imtiaz Fawwazi, Newcastle University

Contact

For enquiries, please contact info@ukcontrol.org