Prof Cotter also heads the Teagasc DNA high throughput sequencing facility. He is a molecular microbiologist, with a particular focus on the microbiology of foods, the food chain and of humans as well as antimicrobial peptides/bacteriocins. Prof Cotter’s laboratory were winners at the Irish Laboratory of the Year Awards for 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, he has received awards from the Society for Applied Microbiology, ESCMID and FEMS, and heads the Applied Microbiology section within Faculty of 1000 (Biology). Prof Cotter is also the author of >350 peer-reviewed publications resulting from research funded by the EU, Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish Health Research Board, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology and was included in the Clarivate list of highly cited researchers for 2018-2022.