Alas Smith and Jones

Amid fears that students from elsewhere in the United Kingdom will be deterred from studying in Scotland by the absence of a fourth-year fee waiver, there seems to be evidence that at staff level, English academics have infiltrated Scottish institutions.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the Welsh appear to be making incursions in both England and Scotland. A Scottish Higher Education Funding Council team, leading a UK study on interdisciplinary research, made some intriguing discoveries about researchers' surnames.

There are at least 13,515 different surnames in universities. Among these, the most popular name in England is Smith, followed by Jones. The most popular name in Scotland is also Smith, followed by Jones. The most popular name in Wales is Jones, followed by Davies. And Northern Ireland is bucking the trend: Johnston followed by Bell.