The first thing I thought when I teleported to the Institute was, "Cool, this is like the Foundation".

For those who have not read it, Issac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy is about the fall of man into a dark age and a visionary named Harry Seldon who set up a secret high tech group of scientists ostensibly to preserve knowledge and to covertly guide mankind through the tough spots. Also, Asimov's robots have some similarities to Synths. But Shaun is no Harry Seldon and the Institute was assembled after the war, not in anticipation of it. It also seems they have abandoned altruism.

I would love a mod that creates a "Second Foundation" version of the Institute. A small group of psychiatrists and behavioral scientists (not roboticists, physicists, and botanists) who secretly direct the path of the Institute. An R. Daneel Olivaw synth would fit nicely.

Fallout 3 had an ambitious mod along these lines but I don't think it was finished. Maybe I will post in the mods section.