This study set out to trace the mobility, career paths and other attributes of a representative sample of PhD students who graduated from South African universities between 2000 and 2018, across a range of sectors and disciplines. The study generated a master list of 29  593 Ph.D graduates for the period of interest, to form the target population of the survey. The study was funded by the DSI, managed by the Water Research Commission (WRC), and executed by a project team from Stellenbosch University’s DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy.