The SNP has accused Tory ministers of short-changing Tayside and Fife universities after pumping them with cash during the independence campaign.
Millions of pounds have been cut from UK grants to Dundee and St Andrews since 2014, according to figures from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
At St Andrews, support from the EPSRC grant fell from £15.3m in 2013/14 to £9.0m in 2016/17.
Dundee University saw its grant drop from £3.7m to £2.8m over the same period.
The trend was similar across the North East.
Kirsty Blackman, the SNP MP, said the figures reveal “just how hard Tory cuts are hitting our world leading universities”.
“While they were happy to announce more and more cash into Scottish universities in 2014 for PR purposes to save the Union, they’re now happy to sell us short by millions,” she said.
An EPSRC spokesman insisted funds were not allocated by the government.
He said: “Research grant funding is awarded on a competitive basis, using independent expert peer review, and the pattern of our expenditure is based on this outcome.”
A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) spokesman said: “The UK Government has pledged a further £4.7bn to 2021 for world-class science and research at universities across the UK.”
A spokesman for St Andrews said: “We currently have over £50m of active grants from the EPSRC and despite the fact we don’t do engineering, are one of the top 25 universities in the U.K. for grants from this research council.
“Research grants from all sources are under pressure in the current environment, but it is generally accepted that with large grants which are typically awarded over several years, it can misleading to read too much into year on year performance.”
A Dundee University spokeswoman said they receive about £100m a year in research income from various sources.
“It is vital that the UK and Scottish governments continue to support the world-class research that takes place here and at other universities in Scotland,” she said.
“We are very encouraged at the recently announced UK funding aimed at tackling global challenges, which aligns with our mission to transform lives.”
