But administration officials say they are notresponsible for changing the nature of academicresearch. They say that federal money is onlyfollowing the trend set by the movement ofscientific research towards larger, more expensiveprojects.

"Our funding proposals reflect a dynamic thatis transforming science itself into research thatis extremely expensive, forcing scientists to workin multi-disciplinary research teams," saidSaundra Toye, NSF budget director.

Harvard's lobbyist Coddington shares Toye'sview of the changing nature of science. "There isno question that 'Big Science' is starting toreplace 'little science,' " he said.

Yet Coddington says that the government fundingprograms combined with the changing nature ofscientific research may mean the end to smallprojects.

Shattuck believes that this subtle attack onbasic research has not begun: "It's a question ifthese large scale projects will put pressure onsmaller researchers."

"For now there continues to be a balancebetween applied and basic research," Shattucksaid, warning that higher education officials mustremain vigilant to maintain this balance