Presenting Your Research as a Poster

Typical Poster Sections

Title Banner Abstract Introduction

Methods Results Conclusions

References Acknowledgements

Title Banner• Same as the one submitted for The Chronicle• As large as possible• Even lengths on lines• Capitalize all words except short prepositions and articles• Must have PRISM logo, CUNY logo, and JJC logo – all the

“acceptable size” – don’t distort!• Under the title should be your name, followed by John Jay

College and your mentor’s name, followed by John Jay College• Insert a line to separate your title banner from your content –

make it just under your text.• Should not be a color background this time as we have printer

limitations!

Abstract

Methods

Results Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Title of Your Presentation – It Can Extend to Two Lines or Even Three if Necessary, But Try to Keep Line Lengths Similar

First Name Last Name, John Jay CollegeMentor’s First Name Last Name, John Jay College

References

Introduction

This is ok, BUT…

Background• Limited only to

what is absolutely necessary

Project Aim or Goal

• There could be more than one – but keep it simple

Major Results

Obtained

• Really – just the summary major ones!

Significance• Conclusion,

significance, or where project is headed

Abstract

Introduction

A good poster introduction …• Is brief

• Orients the reader, even a non-scientist

• Includes necessary background

• Includes a small amount of citations (no websites!!)

• Ties your research goal to this background

• May include figures

Figures in an Introduction

• Should have titles and captions in this format:

Figure 1. Title. Caption. (Underneath picture or diagram.)

• Figures must have proper citations unless you created or re-created them yourself.

Good Example:

Methods

• Make this section brief!• Bullet for easier reading.• Consider graphic organizers/smart art for steps or

processes, especially if your project is developmental in nature:

Methods - Remember These 2 P’s!

PAST TENSE

• The cells were centrifuged for 10 minutes.• NOT: The cells are centrifuged for 10 minutes.

• There were two experimental groups: one for cells treated with UV radiation, and one control group with no UV radiation.

• NOT: There are two experimental groups: one …

PASSIVE VOICE(No Personal

Pronouns, like I, You, We, They,

Etc.)

• The cells were centrifuged for 10 minutes.• NOT: We placed the cells in a centrifuge for 10 minutes.

• The cells were analyzed to assess growth and viability.• NOT: We analyzed the cells for growth and viability.

Results• Should be the focus! Take up main part of central panel!• Tables vs. Figures

• Tables are numbered independently of figures, but numbering starts at beginning of poster and does not re-start at the results.

• Make sure figures are clear and not photocopied!• Graphs should have error bars when appropriate and

distinctly different line colors for multiple sets of data.

Titles on Figures

Graphs must have x and y axis titles and axis scales! All figures should have

titles (below) that follow this format: Figure #. Title. Caption.

Figure 7. Determination of Successful Plasmid Isolation. The marker in Lane 1 is from the digested HaeIII lambda DNA. The samples were denatured before being run on the gel.

• Recommended to bullet this section.

• Summarize key results.

• Discuss significance and/or future work but keep it brief!

• If you are a newer student, especially first semester, you may not have a lot of results, in which case you may wish to either elaborate here more extensively on where your project will go next semester or even have an extra section called “Future Work.”

Conclusions

• List those references cited by you on your poster, only!

• List should probably be < 5 total.

• Use a referencing style that is appropriate for your discipline.

• Every reference must be in the same style! Don’t just copy and paste!

• Reference lists often and really should use the hanging indent.

References

Examples of Reference Lists

1. Zhang, H. (2006). Photochemical Redox Reactions of Mercury. Recent Developments in Mercury Science. Structure and Bonding, 120: 37-79.

2. Gustin, M. & Stamenkovic, J. (2005). Effect of watering and soil moisture on mercury emission from soils. Biogeochemistry, 76: 215-232.

• Generally, you don’t acknowledge your mentor if his/her name is listed with yours at the top of the poster.

• Do acknowledge all funding sources.

• You must include this statement amongst your references verbatim:

Support for student stipends, supplies, and/or equipment used in this research was supplied by the Program for Research Initiatives for Science Majors (PRISM) at John Jay College. PRISM is funded by the Title V, HSI-STEM and MSEIP programs within the U.S. Department of Education; the PAESMEM program through the National Science Foundation; and New York State’s Graduate Research and Technology Initiative.

Acknowledgements

Oral Poster Presentation Tips

• What is someone most likely to say when they come up to you at your poster?

You will be asked….

• “So – what’s your project about?”• “Tell me about your project?”

• What are you going to say?

Have Two Versions!• Your “speech” should have two versions…• Know your audience:

30/45 Second Version 2 – 3 Minute Version

Most people! Judges or people who specialize in your field

Very planned – almost memorized, very practiced

Can change, depending or your guest. Have a plan and practice.

30/45 Second Version

Include:

PURPOSE – simply stated

What you managed to accomplish, while pointing

out things on results slides if relevant and major

conclusions.

Where the project is headed next and why it is

cool and significant.

Don’t Include:

Too much background

Too many acronyms (NAPDH, Sko1, etc.)

Too many technical words

Much about methods, if at all

Intricate details about results

For Example, do not do this:• My work studies the role of futABC, which produce the

fucosylated Lewis antigens (Lewis A, B, Y, or X) present on the lipopolysaccaride of Helicobacter pylori, in the chronic colonization of the gastric mucosa by this bacterium. We find that most of these fucosylases undergo SSM-mediated phase variation, leading to hypervariable phenotypes within the population, from which sub-populations are selected by molecular mimicry of host antigenic profiles through a yet-unknown mechanism. In the next steps we want to explore the molecular basis of this mechanism, and shed light on the genetic factors leading to chronic persistance by H. pylori.

Do this…• My research is focused on a type of molecules named Lewis

antigens that are present in the surface of a bacterial species (named Helicobacter pylori, or Hp for short) that lives in the stomach of some humans, and how they help Hp survive there for decades. We found that the genes responsible for manufacturing the Lewis antigens in the bacteria can switch and stay on and off every time Hp replicates, which creates a mixed population of the Hp cells but each one producing a different Lewis antigen. Some Hp inside the same stomach will produce Lewis antigens that are more compatible with the person and can evade the natural defenses of the immune system and stay there. Next, we want to understand what makes some antigens more compatible than others inside each individual person to explain how this bacteria can live in the stomach for such a long time.

2 – 3 Minute VersionInclude: Any absolutely necessary background that leads into your

simply stated purpose.

A 20 second summary of your methods – again simply stated.Detailed show and tell of your results, using your poster well to showcase these results. Point out trends and major findings.Major conclusions.

Where the study is headed next.

Why your research is signficiant – put it context.

Tips for Keeping Audience Attention

1. Rehearse many times but don’t memorize!

2. Keep a slow pace, with emphatic pauses.

3. Use your poster, especially figures, as a visual guide when helpful.

4. Don’t be afraid to let people interject – you aren’t actually being

kept to a time limit overall.

5. Think of it as teaching instead of speech giving.

6. Think of it also as story-telling, it should have a beginning

(purpose), some action/adventure in the middle (what you actually

did), and then the moral (conclusion) at the end.

Not the Goal!!

• Someone says to you …

“Wow – I don’t even understand half of what you just said. It’s like another language – this science stuff.”

• Make sure that you have proofread your entire poster for typos, spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, font and spacing consistency, etc.

• Your mentor MUST approve your poster before you submit it to PRISM.

• Review the posted guidelines before submitting to make sure that you comply with everything.

• Print out a small copy of your poster so that you can check to see if all the section titles and columns are properly aligned and so that you can see if there are any inconsistencies in fonts or spacing.

Final Reminders!!

Writing the Main Content• Do not write your poster on the template. Write it as a

Word document. Then have your mentor review it, have a peer review it, have someone you know to be a good writer review it (not necessary in that order).

• Then you can copy and paste into the template.

• We have >40 posters to review, and is unlikely that we’ll be able to fully review all of them. This poster is YOUR presentation, YOUR work and is YOUR responsibility for it to be ready.

Poster Submission Spring 2014DEADLINES – REVISED 4/7/14

• Now that the department poster printer is fixed, we can slightly relax our initial poster submission procedures:

• If you want your poster printed in higher quality on the newly fixed departmental printer, you must submit it by Wednesday, April 16 by noon.

• All other posters must be submitted between Wednesday, April 16 and Wednesday, April 23 by noon. These posters may be printed in lower quality (possible picture pixilation, etc.) using the printer in the OUR office as their printer is faster and able to handle a bigger load. If time allows and the machine holds up, some of the posters submitted after 4/16 at noon will be printed on the department higher quality printer, but there is absolutely no guarantee of this.

• Anyone without a poster for ANY reason will be denied summer or possible other future funding.

How to Submit• Submit to prism.jjay@gmail.com and save your email sent as proof of

submission.

• There will be NO extensions (4/23 at noon is the absolute final call) and no re-prints for typos that you find later or new results.

• *You MUST MUST MUST put your mentor’s email address in the CC of the email so that we know he/she has seen and approved it.

• Your posters will be reviewed and probably edited by the PRISM staff. They will be sent back to you for a final approval of these edits or so that you yourself can make needed edits. If edits are needed you must make the edits, consult your mentor if needed, and respond or resubmit within 24 hours of getting our email so be checking your email every day for that two weeks until you hear that we printed it!!

Seniors in the OUR Contest• You are all presenting on Thursday from 1:30 – 2:45

regardless of what their email said.• You will likely be using the same poster. For now, assume

that we will print your poster, mount it and give it to them for that day.

• So – you DO NOT have to submit your poster to them by email as their email says.

• You will be responsible for carrying your poster from the OUR session to the PRISM session between 2:45 and 2:50 p.m. on May 1.

• There will be updates to this as we continue to work with OUR – look for email updates.

Poster Contest• ** (Change here) All graduating students will be considered if they

are turned in on time by noon on April 16 and may be considered if turned in by the final 4/23 deadline.

• PRISM coordinators, Fran, Ed, and Ron will review them to decide on finalists.

• Then an independent panel of judges will score the finalists with winner(s) to be announced at the Symposium.

• Initial judging is based on the poster itself with final awards also based on oral presentation to judges either at the OUR session or the PRISM poster session.

• Some of the criteria: Clarity, Depth of Knowledge, Research Merit, Format, Appearance, Professionalism

Don’t forget…

• RSVP for you and for any family by April 10!!

• Pick up an invitation to bring home!!

• Make a plan with your mentor for meeting the early 4/16 deadline if at all possible!