A University College Dublin (UCD) academic is planning to use DNA molecules from "thousands-of-years-old sheep and goat remains" in a new groundbreaking research project.

Dr. Kevin Daly, is one of four UCD academics to receive European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants to support their research.

Each academic will get more than€1.5 million for their individual projects.

Dr. Daly's project, 'Herdpath', will research the "domestication of livestock that began 10,000 years ago.

It will also explore "how early herding communities presented new opportunities for pathogens to spread from one animal to another, and between animal and human, leading to evolution of new infectious diseases".

Herdpath will use DNA molecules from thousands-of-year-old sheep and goat remains to reveal how infectious diseases adapted to their hosts and how livestock adapted in turn.

Dr. Daly believes that animal-specific diseases "have been neglected" in academic studies of how pathogens have affected human societies.

He added: "This ERC Starting Grant will completely transform my research trajectory.

"Building a team of enthusiastic PhD students and talented postdocs, getting to engage together on big, discipline-spanning questions while working with an incredible group of international collaborators from many different fields - it's the stuff of dreams."

A total of eight grants out of 478 were awarded to researchers based in Ireland in this round.

UCD has now secured 39 main ERC grants under Horizon Europe - EU's research and innovation programme focused on sustainability efforts and tackling climate change.

Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, congratulated the four awardees and said: "We are committed to supporting academic career development and ambitious research at every stage in UCD, and we look forward to following the progress of these outstanding researchers."