Podcast hosted by Filipe Barata
Europe on Edge
A future not yet written.
There is an old story from post-war Europe about a community coming together out of necessity: for peace, for economic renewal, and for a future that could not wait until every detail had been settled.
The urgency was so great that, in the final rush, pages were reportedly still blank. Yet the leaders of this emerging European community signed nonetheless. They signed a future that had not yet been written. This moment would go down in history as the Treaty of Rome, laying the foundation for the European Economic Community.
That spirit feels urgent again today. In an age shaped by artificial intelligence and scientific breakthroughs, there is a growing concern that Europe may be falling behind. The reasons are not obvious. Is it capital, speed, regulation, culture, talent, infrastructure, or something deeper in how we translate ideas into impact? Europe cannot afford to wait until the future is fully legible. It must ask these questions openly, understand where the bottlenecks truly lie, and decide what it wants to build.
Europe on Edge is born from that idea: a space to ask, with rigor and ambition, how Europe can shape its own future rather than merely adapt to someone else's.
About.
I am Filipe Barata, a researcher at ETH Zurich, where I lead the AI & Digital Biomarker core at the Center for Digital Health Interventions. My work sits at the intersection of machine learning and healthcare, turning wearable and mobile data into clinically validated digital health solutions.
I was born in Portugal and grew up in Graubünden, Switzerland, shaped by both the openness of the ocean and the quiet force of the mountains. Becoming a father has also made the question of Europe's future feel much more personal.
Like many others, I have wondered whether greater opportunity lies elsewhere. I came close to leaving Europe and had already signed an offer, but for family reasons and perhaps also out of stubborn affection, I stayed.
Europe on Edge grew from that decision. It is a podcast about whether Europe can still shape science, technology, and innovation with confidence. Not out of tribalism, but from the belief that we can build ambitious things here too.
I also stand on the shoulders of giants, and none of this would be possible without the help of friends and fellow ETH researchers: Markus Kreft behind the camera, Kevin O'Sullivan and Robert Jakob helping with distribution and navigating the digital world, David Schaurecker with advertising and access to student resources, Gabor Hollbeck generously sharing his hardware, and Lorenzo Steno advising me on Italian guests.
