It's absurd to try to say how it is in Europe. You can't even say how it is overall in Germany. There are various different arrangements with companies, researc

It's absurd to try to say how it is in Europe. You can't even say how it is overall in Germany. There are various different arrangements with companies, research centers like Max Planck, universities, some are full (state) employee positions, some are half, some give stipends, some take 3 years, some 4 or 5, some make you teach courses, some don't. Depends on country, field, particular university or company, even the department. So you can't generalize over a whole continent.