A project assessing factors that hinder cross-Border contact is among five studies to receive a total of €3 million as part of a new EU-funded research programme.
The project, which will investigate both formal and informal cross-Border contact, is being conducted by the Institute of British-Irish Studies at UCD and the Institute of Governance at Queen's University Belfast.
Welcoming the announcement, Prof John Coakley of UCD said the project would be breaking new ground in the area.
"In the current context, with the Good Friday institutions in abeyance, cross-Border research that is both collaborative and comparative has never been of greater significance," he said.
"Our project will measure the real social-economic, cultural and political costs of the Border, something which has simply not been done before now."
Managed by the Higher Education Authority, the "cross Border programme for research and development contributing to peace and reconciliation" receives funding under the EU's Peace II initiative and aims to support the peace process.
This year, three of the five awards announced are being led by UCD personnel, who will receive some €1.9 million in funding.
The other projects will cover equality policies, the role of families in identity formation, the use of sensor technology in the treatment of heart conditions, and the the use of communication technologies to support mediation.