What is a research poster?

A conference poster presentation is an opportunity to showcase a research project by:

• presenting a summary of your work in poster format
• standing next to your poster on conference day to talk about your project and answer any questions that conference participants may have

What are the features of a good research poster?

A good poster will present the main points of a research project in a way that can be easily understood by a mixed audience. It should generate interest, questions and discussion about the project. It should not report all the details of your work.

A good poster will have clearly organized sections (see below), limited and well-chosen text, effective graphics (e.g. tables, images, graphs,) and an attractive overall design.

Participants at the USRC will come from different backgrounds and academic levels, so posters should not include a lot of technical language or jargon.

Getting started on your research poster

Before preparing your poster, consider the following points:

• What is the most important/ interesting finding(s) from my research project?
• How can I share this information effectively with a conference audience in a poster format (e.g. charts, images, infographics)?
• How can I complement the visual elements of my poster by speaking with conference participants as they view the poster? What else might they like to know? What questions might they have?

Designing your research poster

There is a variety of software available for poster design; we recommend using Microsoft Powerpoint as an easy and widely-used option.  

We recommend that you produce your poster in Landscape orientation: size W48 x H36 inches.

Make sure that the most important text in your poster (e.g. the project title and section titles) can be easily read from a distance of 2 meters. Detailed sections need to be easily read from about 1 meter.

Avoid ‘overcrowding’ your poster with unnecessary detail and images.

Poster content

Your poster should include the following information and sections:

	Poster header		Sections (main body of the poster)
1	University/ College Logo*	6	Introduction (including background & research aim) *
2	Conference Logo*	7	Methods
3	Title of your research project	8	Results
4	Group members & project supervisor	9	Recommendations/ Conclusion
5	Your department	10	References (if relevant)

* could be placed at the bottom left/right of the poster as well

Keep text in the poster concise and mostly in note-form using sub-titles, bullet points and numbering where necessary. Try to keep your word count to less than 800 words.

You need to be able to communicate your knowledge to specialists in your field, and non-specialists alike – avoid ‘jargon’!

Your poster should be in English unless the research project was carried out for a course in which the main language of instruction is Arabic.

If you use any images that are not your own, acknowledge the source in your poster.

Requirements for USRC poster submissions

If you would like the conference office to print your poster:

Submit your poster in PDF format via Blackboard USRC2019 by 25 March 2019 at the latest

If you will print the poster yourself:

You will need to deliver your printed poster to the conference organizers by 16th of April, at the latest.

Click here to download the Conference Logo.