Gov. Donald L. Carcieri has proposed reducing to five the number of collaborative research grants that the R.I. Science and Technology Advisory Council will award early next year because of Rhode Island’s budget problems.

The reduction, which would need to be approved by the General Assembly, could jeopardize the state’s effort to win a five-year, $20 million extension of the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program in Rhode Island.