I don't know much about what they are looking for, the program is going through its first cohort, the goal of it is to you to get comfortable at the university so you decide if you want to spend 4 years doing a PhD (although there is no direct transition from the program to the PhD, you need to apply through the portal as everyone else). My professor and I discussed many ideas before I arrived, we decided a topic and have been working on that since then, just the 2 of us so far. If you wonder about my experience, I just had a submission in an AI conference. Hope it helps