preparing scientific poster
TRANSCRIPT
PREPARING YOU SCIENTIFIC POSTER
Isra Al-Turaiki, PhD
Information Technology Department
College of Computer and Information Sciences
Outline• Research poster:
• What is it and Why?• What to include?• Design: Size, Layout, Fonts, Colors, Figures• Judge’s point of view• The poster session itself• Examples
• Hands-on part• 45 minutes to design your own poster and get
instant feedback
What is a Poster?
Display boards on which scientists show data and describe experiments for recently completed research or research in progress but not yet published.
Why Posters?
Poster vs. Manuscript
• Posters have much greater visual impact.• Contain less text.• Most of the space will be used to illustrate the
results (images, tables, graphs or charts).• The materials and methods and discussion sections
are brief. • Only the essential images, tables or graphs should
be selected.• Author decides layout.
Poster vs. Oral Presentation
Poster audience can:• concentrate on parts they’re most interested in.• determine time to spend studying material • interact individually with presenter.• walk around.
Poster Organization • Title• Abstract• Introduction• Methods• Results• Discussion• References• Acknowledgement
Poster Organization
Title and Author [1-2 lines]• Brief, informative, interesting, attention-getting, inviting • The title should be at no smaller than 55 point type. • Include your name and school, as well as your faculty
mentor’s name, department, logo.
Poster Organization
Abstract:• A statement of the research question/s or problem/s. • Typically around 175-250 words.
Poster Organization
Introduction [200 words]
answer the:
1. What?
2. Why? Significance of your question.
Poster Organization
Methods [200 words] • Describe the steps you used for your research.• Equipment used.• But not with much details!• Use flowcharts and figures.
Poster Organization
Results/Data Analysis [200 words] • More space should be devoted to your results than to any
other section. • This is where you should use graphics, images and tables• Describe what you found.
Poster Organization
Discussion/Conclusion [200 words] • What can you conclude from your research• What are the implications and the importance of your
findings? • How does this compare to what others have found? • Future work: what is the next step for your project.
Poster Organization
References [5-10 lines]• Major sources on which your research project relied.
Poster Organization
Acknowledgment [40 words]
People who helped you with your research and/or poster. • Mentors and/or collaborators.• Funders
Poster Layouts• use a visual grammar to guide readers to the important
parts of your poster.
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/CreatePosterLayout.html
Poster Layouts• use a column format to make your poster easier to read
in a crowd.
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/CreatePosterLayout.html
Poster Layouts
https://connect.le.ac.uk/posters
Poster Layouts
https://connect.le.ac.uk/posters
Poster Figures• Simple and clean• Self explanatory• Require a minimum of supplemental text• Readable from 6 feet away
Poster Figures
Image Quality
For good quality printing:• aim for at least 200 dots per inch (dpi), i.e. 80 dots per
cm• but preferably 300 dpi (120 dpcm)
Poster Size
Paper size Portrait (w x h) Landscape (w x h)
A0 84.1 x 118.9 cm 118.9 x 84.1 cm
A1 59.4 x 84.1 cm 84.1 x 59.4 cm
A2 42.0 x 59.4 cm 59.4 x 42.0 cm
Poster Design in PowerPoint
• Posters are designed as a single slide• Go into File Page Setup
Poster Design in PowerPoint
• Text can be typed directly in or cut and paste from existing documents
• Import charts/tables/diagrams• Print the poster out at A4: the text should still be readable
at this size• Some possible font sizes?
https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/studentservices/graduateschool/skills/tkposter.aspx
Title: 80 ptAuthors: 54 ptSubheadings: 36 ptBody text: 24 ptCaptions: 18pt
Font Size?
Font Type?
Sans-Serif Fonts (e.g. Arial, Verdana) Titles and Headings.
�Serif Fonts (e.g. Times New Roman, Garamond)
For larger blocks of Text
https://www.wpi.edu/Academics/ATC/Media/poster-tips.pdf
Use of Colors?
Use of Colors?
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Select Colors in PowerPoint
Choosing Colorhttp://colorschemedesigner.com/csd-3.5/
Remember
A good poster:• Tells a story.• Can be read from more than 5-7 feet away (1.5 -2 m).• Poster content should be 60 percent images, 40 percent
text.• Is interesting and eye-catching.• Has a simple, uncluttered design.• Uses clear language and images in a logical sequence.• Summarizes key points without excess detail.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/staffres/poster.pdf
The Poster Session Itself • Practice your poster overview.• Don’t talk only to your friends at the session—the idea is
to network and share ideas with others• Smile and greet people, get their buy-in (e.g., “Can I give
you a 1-minute overview of our poster?”)• Develop a 1-minute, 3-minute, and 5-minute overview of
your poster
General Questions
People Will Ask You • Can you run me through your poster?• How did you get interested in this project?• Were the findings what you expected?• What was the most difficult aspect of this project?• What have other people in your field found?
A Judge’s Viewpoint
A Judge’s Viewpoint
A Judge’s Viewpoint
Poster Examples
http://colinpurrington.com/2012/example-of-bad-scientific-poster/
Another Example
http://betterposters.blogspot.com/
Final Thoughts
“A good poster can’t make up for bad research, but a bad poster can make good research hard to recognize!”
http://www.washington.edu/research/urp/downloads/symposium12_Poster_Design_handouts.pdf
Thank You