Colleges frequently open new research centers and begin major new initiatives. These give us insight into what these colleges deem important, and what they are choosing to spend limited money on. Recently, NYU announced the opening of a major new hub in Brooklyn: the Center for Robotics & Embodied Intelligence.
That’s quite a mouthful, but what does this new center entail, and why are they opening it now? More importantly for the students we work with, what does this mean for undergraduates at NYU, and how can this (and other such initiatives) impact your college admissions strategy? In this article, we’re going to delve into the answers to all these questions, to give you a peak behind the curtain. Let’s jump right in!
What is the Center for Robotics and Embodied Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence, and the pursuit of it, has made the news a lot recently. Colleges exist on the cutting edge of research, and many of them see new investments into AI research projects quite valuable. This is both in order to better understand a rapidly evolving field, and to attract the interest of donors and grants; colleges need money to study things, and right now a tremendous amount of money is being put into researching AI.
As for why New York University is specifically combining this with a center for robotics, that’s because of a specific theory in the development of AI. Recently, progress on purely software models has slowed down; ChatGPT and other LLMs can do some remarkable things, but theorists believe we may be hitting the limits of what they are capable of, that these models can only go so far, and that adding more training data and processing power will not be sufficient to get them to take the next step.
One theory as to the solution to this is “Embodied Intelligence”. This holds that the best way for AI to take the next step is by putting it directly into a physical form; an AI that exists as software can only interact with the world through training data, while one with a more physical form is able to gather much more data about other states of the world.
This is where the name of NYU’s new center comes from, and is a clear impetus for its construction. NYU already has some programs to study both robotics and AI, and a very strong engineering school, but until this point had no place which combined all of those things beneath a single roof administratively. The new center offers them just that, giving them a secure base on which to build future investigations and investments.
NYU’s New Center and Undergraduates
The main students impacted by this center are doctoral students, who are the ones who do much of the legwork of research. PhD positions are supported by grant funding, and centers like this exist to bring that funding in; this is still a ways in the future, but we do anticipate further faculty and PhD positions being announced, even as some existing research projects are moved to the new venue.
For undergraduates, however, the center offers a number of new opportunities, mostly in terms of expansions of existing fields. There are no specific majors or minors directly associated with the new center, at least not yet, though this may of course change going forward.
Instead, the center offers new resources and research opportunities for students in a number of major and minor programs, across the fields of engineering and computer science. Students in these programs will not need to involve themselves with this new center, but will have access to a new suite of initiatives, and new research projects looking for employees to aid in the long hours of work many of these projects take.
New research is exciting, but we are going to include our standard warning here that research projects can be rather dull on the minute level. The day to day of research projects, especially for the tasks that undergraduates are hired to do, often involve long hours of setting up equipment, recording data, and observing and notating results. These are all key pieces of the scientific process, and integral to its success, but are rather less exciting than what you may see on TV.
New Centers and College Applicants
What then does NYU’s new center mean for students who are applying to NYU? It is, of course, the most impactful for PhD candidates who wish to study in these particular fields, especially if these new labs do create new opportunities for them at NYU. This may be a long way off for you, but is worth keeping an eye on if you want to seriously consider a PhD in these fields in the future.
For students applying at the undergraduate level, these centers can have a variable impact. NYU’s center, for example, doesn’t offer any new majors to apply to; some new centers do, and this can be worth investigating, as new majors are often less popular, and schools look to fill them up, to justify the expense of creating them. Finding these, especially in fields related to your passions, is often a great way to get into a top college you might have struggled with otherwise.
The other place you can consider mentioning these is in your essays. NYU specifically does not ask students why they want to attend, or at least they didn’t this year. Many colleges, however, specifically ask students to write an essay explaining why they want to attend this college in particular; what draws them to it, and makes it a perfect fit for their needs and interests.
These essays are a great place to discuss these new initiatives and programs. Now, you should only do this if you are genuinely interested in these programs, but doing so is a great way to show off the research you have done about that school, and to demonstrate how neatly your passions dovetail with the school’s own priorities.
Starting a new program is always something of a risk, and schools want to make sure they get a crop of talented and motivated students enrolled in any new programs as soon as possible. Mentioning these programs specifically when you are applying gives schools that confidence, especially if you can tie work you’ve already done to the exciting new opportunities these programs will afford you.
The other place you can discuss this is in why major essays. Now, NYU’s essays do not currently include one of these, but many schools do. Talking about why you want to study a major, you can line up your experiences with what a new program offers. You can say this explicitly at the end, but in the bulk of the essay you should focus on what you’ve done in this field already, and let anyone who reads it come away understanding exactly why this new center is the right place for you to thrive.
Final Thoughts
Colleges frequently open new centers and begin new initiatives, especially as research progresses and technology drives innovation forward. In the 1980s, computer science majors were rare; now they are almost ubiquitous. NYU’s new Center for Robotics & Embodied Intelligence is the latest in a long line of bold decisions by colleges, and one which opens up some truly incredible new opportunities for students at NYU, graduate and undergraduate alike.
If you are interested in pursuing this program at NYU, or are looking for a college with the perfect programs to help you explore your passions, then Ivy Scholars can help. Our mentors have a deep understanding of the college process from start to finish, and are skilled at assisting students in finding the exact programs to best meet their particular needs. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more about how we can help make your college journey smoother.
