Poster Display 

GENERAL INFORMATION

The poster display should be viewed as an organized display of your research project. Posters are typically read from top to bottom and then from left to right. Do not use fonts that are difficult to read. When designing the poster, avoid long paragraphs; be brief and to the point. Short text blocks and bullet points are often effective. Do not simply cut and paste entire sections of a paper onto the poster. Consider the main points that you want to include on the poster. Your poster should include a list of references for any works cited in the poster. 

The virtual presentation for the Student Research Symposium will be a digital poster accompanied by a 5-minute voiceover recording. The voiceover will allow students to present their research to a virtual audience. 

The goal of the voiceover is to add layers and detail to the poster (explaining graphs or charts, expounding on the significance of the project, offering ideas for future research, etc.) The voiceover should add value to the poster rather than simply describe what is already on the poster. The voiceover creates a compelling story about the participant’s scholarly work and should include the following: a short introduction, the research question, a theoretical framework (if any), hypotheses (if any), a brief description of the methods, tables and/or graphs related to the findings, and an interpretation of the results. 

POSTER AND VIRTUAL PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS

POSTER CRITERIA: Create and Save Your Poster

• Creating Your Poster  
  • Design your poster using the Poster Template 
  • DO NOT fill the background with color.  Leave the background white, but feel free to add colored borders to text boxes and add color photos.  
  • Ensure your poster is no larger than 42″ (width) x 36″ (height). You can double-check or resize your poster in power point by going to the “Design” tab and clicking the button titled “Slide Size”, then “Custom Slide Size”. 
  • Some examples are provided here: Example 1 & Example 2 
• Saving and Naming Your Poster  
  • Save your file as a .ppt or .pptx file only.  
  • Save your PowerPoint file titled as FIRST NAME LAST NAME, and “2023 Research Symposium”. For example: JOHN DOE, 2023 Research Symposium.  

VIRTUAL PRESENTATION CRITERIA: How to Create and Save Your Virtual Presentation

• Record Your Video Presentation  
  • After creating your poster in PowerPoint, visit this link for instructions on how to record a voiceover on PowerPoint.  
  • The recording should be approximately 5 minutes. There is a convenient timer feature that will show on the screen once you select “record” so that you can keep time. 
• Save Your Video Presentation File in MP4 format  
  • Save your video in .mp4 format only. Visit this link for instructions on how to turn your recording into a video and save in .mp4 format.   
  • DO NOT save as .ppsx, .wmv or any other format that may not be compatible for upload.  
  • Save your .mp4 video file titled as your FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, and “2023 Research Symposium”. For example: JOHN DOE, 2023 Research Symposium.  

Submitting Your Final Work – Deadline: April 5, 2023 

The student’s digital poster and virtual presentation must be submitted by 5pm on April 5 to confirm the student’s participation in the Research Symposium. 

** Be sure to double-check your work before submitting! **  

Your faculty sponsor must review and approve your poster before you upload it.  

Please note that the directors will only print your poster once. If there are spelling mistakes or formatting issues and your poster needs to be reprinted, then you will be responsible for printing it again on your own time at a cost of approximately $10.00.   

Upload your work via the link included in your acceptance email. 

Tips for Giving In-Person Poster Presentations

Dress professionally and be prepared to answer questions and to discuss your project with people throughout the poster session. You should be able to explain your entire poster in 5 minutes. However, your poster should also be self-explanatory, meaning anyone who walks by it should be able to view your poster and understand it. 

Judging of the In-Person Poster Presentations

All posters will be evaluated by at least two judges.  Prizes will be awarded to the two highest-scoring participants in each category based on scores given by the judges. The awards ceremony will take place on the day of the symposium in the BSC Ballroom.