Harvard officials must now examine the language of the bill and hope the cuts will be distributed over a wide base of fund recipients, Casey said.
"It's pretty much in the cards," he said. "We are hoping we can hold the line on the next year's budget round. This is a symbol of troubling times when money is tight."
Casey said the other thing Harvard can do about the reductions is try to convince Congress of research's importance.
"Research has applications in economic competitiveness and military preparedness," he said. "The rationale is also one of training the next generation of researchers."
Harvard receives a total $235 million from the federal government for research each year. But the University has limited power over legislation.
"Our ability to influence on a grand scale is not all that large," Martin said. "We can urge them to act wisely, and acting wisely will mean cutting not so much.