About
Professor Stuart Johnstone is a prominent researcher and educator in the School of Psychology at the University of Wollongong. He has held academic positions at UOW since 1999, progressing from Lecturer to his current role as Professor since 2018. He previously served as Deputy Head of School (Teaching and Learning) from 2020-2023 and Acting Head of School in 2024. He also maintains a Visiting Professor position at Zhejiang Normal University's Faculty of Special Education since 2018.
His educational background includes a PhD and Bachelor of Science (Honours Class I) from the University of Wollongong, followed by post-doctoral work at the University of Sydney's Department of Psychological Medicine. He is a Registered Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (2001-2022).
Johnstone's research focuses on neurophysiological approaches to understanding and treating ADHD, particularly using brain electrical activity measures to improve assessment and diagnosis. His work spans biological psychology, psychophysiology, and developmental psychology, with emphasis on neurocognitive training interventions for children with ADHD. He has developed innovative approaches to ADHD assessment that incorporate EEG measurements alongside traditional clinical evaluations.
His publication record demonstrates consistent focus on ADHD neurophysiology, with recent work expanding into cross-cultural applications, portable EEG technology for educational settings, and animal-assisted interventions. His research shows growing emphasis on practical applications of neurocognitive assessment and training, with increasing attention to remote delivery methods and cross-cultural validity of interventions.
- UOW Vice-Chancellors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Commercialisation (2013)
- UOW Vice-Chancellors Award for Global Strategy (2018)
Johnstone actively supervises numerous PhD students, with current projects examining sleep patterns in ADHD, human-dog interactions for wellbeing, and test anxiety in school children. His research is supported by multiple grants including external funding from the Prevention Research Support Program and internal University of Wollongong grants focused on neurocognitive assessment and training. His work has strong international collaboration, particularly with Chinese institutions.
He coordinates courses in Biological Psychology and Psychophysiology and has developed international educational programs in Singapore. His research group focuses on translating neurophysiological findings into practical assessment tools and interventions for ADHD, with recent work emphasizing portable technology and cross-cultural applications.
