Biography
Idris Kempf is an Associate Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, a Hugh Price Fellow at Jesus College, and a Stipendiary Lecturer at Keble College. He received a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and an MSc in Robotics, Systems and Control from ETH Zurich.
Following his MSc, he worked in Amsterdam as a quantitative trader and software developer at a proprietary trading firm. He subsequently completed a DPhil in Control Engineering at the University of Oxford, where he was a member of Lady Margaret Hall.
After holding research and teaching positions at Oxford, he was appointed Associate Professor of Engineering Science in 2026. His research focuses on applied control engineering and its use in particle accelerators, advanced manufacturing, and engineering biology.
He is a member of the Control Group in the Department of Engineering Science.
Research Interests
Idris Kempf's research focuses on applied control engineering. His work is often motivated by demanding real-world applications, from which he develops new mathematical and computational methods that connect control theory with the requirements of practical deployment.
Many of the systems he studies are large-scale or operate at high throughput, requiring specialised methods for modelling, optimisation, estimation, decision-making, and real-time control. His research combines classical and modern control engineering with tools from optimisation, numerical linear algebra, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and computer vision.
A central aim of his work is to translate new control methods into practice, enabling more capable scientific instruments, more efficient manufacturing processes, and new experimental technologies. He therefore collaborates closely with industrial and scientific partners, with current applications spanning particle accelerators and scientific instrumentation, advanced manufacturing, and engineering biology.
His current research includes work supported by the EEBio programme grant (EPSRC), the NEXTRODE project (Faraday Institution), and the Software Sustainability Institute.
Research Groups
Research Projects
Synchrotron light sources and scientific instrumentation
Idris collaborates with Diamond Light Source and other synchrotron light sources large-scale particle accelerator facilities to develop next-generation control systems for accelerators and beamline experiments.
Future synchrotron facilities will produce brighter and more tightly focused X-ray beams, requiring increasingly precise stabilisation of the electron beam. His research develops high-performance feedback and optimisation methods for these large-scale systems. At beamlines, he works on low-level control, trajectory generation, online reconstruction, and adaptive sampling, with the aim of reducing experiment times and improving the quality of measurements.
Smart manufacturing
Idris works on smart manufacturing, particularly battery manufacturing, through the NEXTRODE research programme. The aim is to reduce manufacturing-line commissioning times, improve operational efficiency, and achieve more consistent product quality.
His research develops control, optimisation, sensing, and estimation methods for processes in which important material properties cannot be measured directly. Although motivated by battery electrode manufacturing, these methods are applicable to a wider range of continuous and high-throughput manufacturing systems.
High-throughput control and experimentation in engineering biology
Idris develops automated platforms for observing, perturbing, and controlling large numbers of individual cells using microscopy and microfluidics. This work combines control engineering, computer vision, and real-time decision-making to automate experiments involving hundreds of thousands or millions of cells.
Current projects include the high-throughput characterisation of evolutionary landscapes, cybergenetic feedback control at the single-cell level, and platforms for manufacturing and screening messenger RNA–lipid nanoparticle therapeutics. The broader aim is to create experimental systems that analyse data and adapt their actions autonomously in real time.
Collaborative projects in engineering biology
Idris also collaborates with experimental biologists to develop genetic sensing, communication, and feedback systems.
With Professor Philip Poole and Dr Hayley Knights in Oxford's Department of Biology, he works on genetic circuits for plant-to-bacterium and bacterium-to-bacterium communication, with applications including biological nitrogen fixation and reduced dependence on energy-intensive fertilisers.
With Dr Francesca Ceroni and Dr John Fong at Imperial College London, he develops genetic sensing and feedback systems in mammalian cells.
Collaboration and opportunities
DPhil Opportunities
Idris welcomes enquiries from prospective DPhil students and is always happy to discuss potential research projects and new research directions.
Industry
Idris welcomes enquiries from industrial partners. Collaborations may range from exploratory research projects to longer-term partnerships and the co-supervision of DPhil students.
