Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Professor Droogan is Head of the School of International Studies. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (Routledge) and co-convenor of the AVERT Research Network. Julian's academic research focusses on online extremism and disinformation, South Asian violent extremism, and terrorist cultures. Through his career, Julian has worked with a range of stakeholders from government, the private sector, and community groups to apply university-based research to devising solutions to contemporary security challenges. He has led research projects for the Australian and US Departments of Defence, for the NSW Government, and for the United States Institute for Peace, among others. These encompass topics such as mapping jihadist propaganda, young Australians' engagement with online violent extremist content, the rise of far-right and conspiratorial narratives through social media, and the spread of online disinformation in Australia's region. Julian was instrumental in designing the COMPACT countering violent extremism program, operated by Multicultural NSW and aimed at fostering broad societal resilience to violent extremism.
As well as supervising PhD and Masters of Research students, Julian convenes the courses PICT2015:Terrorism in the 21st Century as part of the Bachelor of Security Studies, and PICT8020: Advanced Terrorism Studies. He maintains several international agreements and partnerships with academic and practitioner organisations in Europe, the Middle East, and in South Asia, including the VOX-Pol Network.
Funded Research Projects
- 2025: Regional Dissinformation. $2.4 million
- 2023: Online Information Operations. $500,000.
- 2021: Right-Wing Extremism and Covid-19 in Australia. NSW Department of Communities and Justice. $150,000.
- 2021: Racially and ethnically motivated violent extremist Online Research – Australian Ecosystems. RESOLVE Network. $50,000.
- 2021: Mass influence operations.
- 2019: After Christchurch: Mapping the Networks and Narratives of Online Right-Wing Violent Extremism Online. NSW Department of Communities and Justice. $200,000.
- 2017: Evaluating CVE. All Together Now.
- 2017: CT and CVE for Bangladesh Police. DFAT Australia Awards Fellowship. $235,000.
- 2016: Understanding Youth Exposure to Online Extremist Materials. Australian Research Council. $285,000.
- 2015: Countering Violent Extremism in NSW. NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet. $100,000.
- 2014: Countering Violent Extremism Workshop. $25,000.
- 2011: Mapping Violence in Honiara. Australian Department of Defence. $18,000.
Education/Academic qualification
Graduate Certificate in Higher Education , Macquarie University
Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney
Bachelor of Arts (Hons), University of Sydney
External positions
Co-Convener, AVERT Network
1 Aug 2024 → …
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics where Julian Droogan is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
-
Countering Violent Extremism Services Panel
Waldek, L. (Chief Investigator) & Droogan, J. (Primary Chief Investigator)
17/10/17 → …
Project: Research
-
Defence Innovation Network Strategic Investment Initiative - Information Operations
Rizoiu, M.-A. (Chief Investigator), Droogan, J. (Primary Chief Investigator), Hunt, J. (Chief Investigator), Bailo, F. (Chief Investigator), Hawsley, C. (Chief Investigator) & Williams, J. (Chief Investigator)
1/04/23 → 31/03/25
Project: Research
-
MQRAS 21 R2: Religion and state after crisis: Religiosity and trust in religious organisations after the Australian Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse.
Gleeson, K. (Primary Chief Investigator), Wilson, S. (Chief Investigator), Ross, R. (Chief Investigator), Droogan, J. (Chief Investigator) & Maddox, M. (Associate Investigator)
25/01/22 → 31/12/22
Project: Research
-
NSW DoCJ: An examination of Australian Violent Extremism in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Ballsun-Stanton, B. (Chief Investigator), Waldek, L. (Primary Chief Investigator) & Droogan, J. (Primary Chief Investigator)
28/04/21 → 31/10/21
Project: Research
-
USIP: Racially and ethically motivated violent extremist (REMVE) Online Research – Australian Ecosystems
Droogan, J. (Primary Chief Investigator), Waldek, L. (Chief Investigator), Ballsun-Stanton, B. (Chief Investigator) & Hutchinson, J. (Chief Investigator)
1/03/21 → 20/12/21
Project: Research
-
Before it's too late: a state space model for the early prediction of misinformation and disinformation engagement
Tian, L., Booth, E., Bailo, F., Droogan, J. & Rizoiu, M.-A., 2025, WWW '25: proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2025. New York: Association for Computing Machinery, p. 5244-5254 11 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review
Open AccessFile19 Downloads (Pure) -
How Burkina Faso's strongman became the Indo-Pacific's unlikely hero – and other tales of disinformation
Williams, J., Nuraniyah, N., Borg, J. & Droogan, J., 7 Aug 2025, The Interpreter.Research output: Contribution to Newspaper/Magazine/Website › Website contribution
-
Indonesia targeted in Rafale fighter jet disinformation
Nuraniyah, N., Williams, J. & Droogan, J., 9 Jul 2025, The Interpreter.Research output: Contribution to Newspaper/Magazine/Website › Website contribution
-
'Stand against the wiles of the Devil': interpreting QAnon as a pseudo-Christian extremist movement
Miotto, N. & Droogan, J., May 2025, In: Critical Sociology. 51, 3, p. 503-526 24 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)55 Downloads (Pure) -
Far-right 'Reactions': a comparison of Australian and Canadian far-right extremist groups on Facebook
Hutchinson, J. & Droogan, J., 2024, In: Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression. 16, 3, p. 352-379 28 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
4 Citations (Scopus)
Activities
- 1 Participating in a conference, workshop or event series
-
Ethics of Terrorism Research
Waldek, L. (Participant) & Droogan, J. (Participant)
3 Sept 2018Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participating in a conference, workshop or event series
Press/Media
-
US Inspired rightwing extremism an 'insidious' threat to Australia Study Finds
9/10/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Other
Impacts
-
Resilience to Extremism
Droogan, J. (Participant) & Waldek, L. (Participant)
Impact: Culture impacts, Society impacts