What is a Research Poster

Research posters are being increasingly used in academic and research settings.  They are a way to visually present the results of research.  They summarize information and also present it graphically so that people viewing the poster can quickly digest the basics. Researchers stand near their posters so that they can then answer questions that viewers have after reading the poster.

Posters usually contain a mixture of text, images, graphs, tables, maps, etc.  They should be visually appealing and well laid out.  They also need to contain well researched and organized data.  It should be readable from a distance and people should be able to read it in about 5 minutes.

How to put One Together

There are a number of programs you can use to assemble your material.  PowerPoint is the most common, but others are also possible.

Size: Plan for a 36”x48” poster (set these as your length and width in Powerpoint or other program; you can decide whether to use landscape or portrait orientation)

Materials: Posters can be printed on either matte or glossy paper, and do not need to be mounted on foam board. (If traveling by plane, you can usually carry on a rolled poster in a cardboard or plastic tube.)

PDF version: You will need to email or upload a PDF of your poster in March. Powerpoint has a print to PDF or save as PDF option you can use for this.

Tips:

Try to avoid paragraph-long text sections, which can be difficult to read; images and bullet points help break up text-heavy posters.

Make sure to keep the text is big enough to read on a letter-size version of your poster (print one out to make sure). Be creative, use images, and make it professional.

Online resources:

http://as.ua.edu/undergraduateresearch/presenting-your-work/making-posters/ (includes template you can use)

http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/NewSite/ — lots of information

http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/our/poster –shows some nice sample posters

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/31071/title/Poster%20Perfect

http://poly.libguides.com/posters – tells how to print a small version