This datasett is based om a web survey among Phd candidates at higher education institutions in Norway in 2010. The topic of the survey was international mobility among PhD candidates at higher education institutions in Norway, its extent, driving forces and barriers. According to statistics, there were a total of 8,897 registered PhD candidates at Norwegian HEIs in 2010. SIU received e‐mail addresses to PhD candidates from the majority of institutions. Among the institutions with more than 50 registered PhD candidates, the University of Agder, the University of Tromsø and the Norwegian School of Veterinary Sciences are not included in the survey. According to statistics on higher education, the institutions covered in the survey have a total of approximately 7,900 PhD candidates. For some institutions, however, there is a significant discrepancy between e‐mail addresses provided to SIU for the purpose of the survey and their total number of PhD candidates according to the statistics. In total, SIU received 5,932 individual and unique e‐mail addresses from institutions.