The National Institutes of Health alone awards UC $2-billion a year for research in cancer, diabetes, vaccines and robotic surgery.

NASA, the Department of Energy, and other agencies also award UC research grants. All of those agencies face sequestration.

"That could cost the University of California jobs for scientists, researchers, and for graduate students and post-docs," says UC's Gary Falle.

He says it's hard to say how much money is at risk because agencies have discretion in how they make cuts. But sequestration won't just hurt UC research.

"1,000 California biotech and high tech companies utilize University of California research," says Falle. Sso you can see as this is drying up, it's going to have consequences on the economy as a whole."