One of the Clinton administration's favourite research programmes — the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) — will be almost halved in size under the Bush proposal.

The proposal cuts the programme's budget from $185 million to $108 million. A similar plan to shrink the ATP — which the administration regards as an unnecessary subsidy for work that industry should do itself — was blocked by Congress last year.

This time, the administration also proposes extra construction funding for NIST, providing $67 million for new laboratories at its main campuses in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and in Boulder, Colorado.