Poster Guidelines

Doing research requires a student to have a particular set of skills.  Transforming that research into a poster requires an additional set of skills.  Your audience will include both discipline experts as well as others who may not have the same research background but are curious to learn more about your project.  Your poster needs to be able to speak to both audiences.  

Template

Please use one of the formats provided.  You should think about the visual content and organization of your poster.  We ask though that all backgrounds be white both for visual clarity as well as for minimal printing cost.  Please stay within the margins provided in the templates.  Content that falls outside of the margins will not print.

• PowerPoint Template

Content of Poster

Every discipline will have its own guidelines for what should be included on a poster.  For original research, these are the categories that are typically included:

• Introduction – This section provides a context for the research. It offers a brief description of the connection and importance of the research to a larger issue connected to your research. 
• Purpose – This section is a statement of the purpose of the research, written in the active voice.
• Methods – This section summarizes ithe general methods or processes used to conduct your research. Be careful to address what was done, leaving the details of how things were done to the poster presentation.
• Results – This section summarizes the results of your research – who benefited; how many benefited; contributions to your workplace. 
• Conclusions – This section captures the significance of the results of your work and connects those results to the larger issue presented in the introduction.

Things to Consider

• Proofread your poster
• Have a friend/mentor review your poster
• Have the final draft ready to print at least 5 business days before you need it
• Make sure that your images are adding to the narrative
• Make sure that all content stays within the formatted margins
• Remember that your poster not only represents you.  It also represents your college.

Additional Resources

• http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/our/poster/samples
• http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm
• https://www.or.ncsu.edu/myor/design-resources/#poster-templates
• http://writing.engr.psu.edu/posters.html
• http://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design
• Creating and Presenting Dynamic Posters http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=12625&bhcp=1