On the basis of the linearized Phillips-Herffron model of a single-machine power system, we approach the problem of select the best input control signal of the unified power flow controller (UPFC) and design optimal UPFC based damping controller in order to enhance the damping of the power system low frequency oscillations. The potential of the UPFC supplementary controllers to enhance the dynamic stability is evaluated. This controller is tuned to simultaneously shift the undamped electromechanical modes to a prescribed zone in the s-plane. The problem of robustly UPFC based damping controller is formulated as an optimization problem according to the eigenvalue-based multiobjective function comprising the damping factor, and the damping ratio of the undamped electromechanical modes to be solved using particle swarm optimization technique (PSO) that has a strong ability to find the most optimistic results. To ensure the robustness of the proposed damping controller, the design process takes into account a wide range of operating conditions and system configurations. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is demonstrated through eigenvalue analysis, nonlinear time-domain simulation and some performance indices studies. The results analysis reveals that the tuned PSO based UPFC controller using the proposed multiobjective function has an excellent capability in damping power system low frequency oscillations and enhance greatly the dynamic stability of the power systems. Moreover, the system performance analysis under different operating conditions show that the 4 based controller is superior to the m(B) based controller. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.