WASHINGTON - The threat of deep spending cuts to begin in January if Congress does not act has prompted 16 Massachusetts university presidents and hospital executives to fire off letters today to the Bay State delegation, pleading with them to adopt deficit reduction strategies that preserve federal funding for scientific research.

In jeopardy is the state’s multi-billion research enterprise. If automatic across-the-board budget cuts outlined by the 2011 debt deal come to a head on January 2, Massachusetts stands to lose $3.1 billion over five years, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.