Post on 19-Jul-2016
description
How to Make a Scientific PosterKimberly Insignekiminsigne@gmail.com
Why a poster can be better than a talk•People can read them while you’re away,
like at a large conference like SACNAS•An easier, more flexible way to present
your research•Engage with the audience!•Less stressful
What is the poster’s purpose?•An advertisement of your hard work•A way to network with others in your field•A great way to meet your future PI for
next summer or grad school
General Overview
•Poster should flow up and down vertically• Easier for a group of people to read rather than horizontally
Title•Well thought out title to attract viewers•Keep it brief as possible without taking
away crucial information•Should be no longer than two lines•My title: “Weighted gene co-expression
network analysis of adipose tissue transcript expression in humans and mice to study CPEB4 and its role in Metabolic Syndrome”
HeadingKimberly Insigne1 , Mete Civelek2 , Maarku Laakso5 , Aldons J. Lusis2, 3, 4
1 Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, 2Department of Medicine, 3Human Genetics, 4Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles5Department of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
•Do not add PhD after their names!
Abstract•Most posters do not have an abstract•If you do include it, make it short and in a
smaller font•You will most likely need all the room you
get, and the abstract is not a bad thing to cut first
Introduction•Bullet points are always better than a long
paragraph if possible. However, lots of intros are paragraph format
•Avoid using technical jargon if possible•You can include graphics if it helps the
viewer understand better•Go from the “big picture” then relate it all
the way down to your specific question•Viewers will ask WHY your research is
important
Materials and Methods•And easy place to use figures and
graphics!•Don’t forget to provide a reason to explain
why you chose these methods
Results•Good to begin with an initial summary of
your results•Address the general aspects of the data
collected or the number of valid data•Then delve into the relationship between
the data and your research question. What exactly does your data mean?
•And remember, graphics are always better to show your results!
•Always include captions!•Figure captions always go on the bottom,
table captions go on the top•Be consistent with how you do your
captions▫Figure 1. This is my caption▫Figure 1. This is my caption
Conclusions• Briefly review research question and results
obtained• Why are your results interesting or significant?
What are potential applications? The big picture?• If you didn’t get results this summer, what could
potential results mean? What are your expected results?
• Good to relate results to other research in the field
• Always good to mention future directions of your work
References•List any works you cited in your poster•Make them small so they don’t take up
room•Aren’t always included in interest of
space (I didn’t include one)
Acknowledgements•Make sure to mention your funding
sources (the UC LEADS logo!)•You can also thank the people you worked
with
•Contact information – it’s up to you if you want to add it but it is helpful if people want to get in contact with you later about your work!
General Tips• Less words the better! People love pictures!• BEFORE you begin, go to Design > Page Setup >
and set width to 48 and height to 36. If you do this later it will mess everything up!
• Go to view and enable grid lines. It helps to line everything up
• If you want to tinker exactly with picture size, click on the picture, go to Format, go to Size box on the right hand side and click the little arrow in the bottom right hand corner. Uncheck “lock aspect ratio” and you can adjust the size without the other dimension adjusting itself!
•Use sans serif fonts. They’re more legible from a distance than serif fonts
• Leave breathing space around your text• Do not use a different font to highlight important
points. Use italics or bold instead• Also, don’t use all uppercase• I personally think you should make text fully
justified instead of left aligned. Just be careful that it doesn’t create large gaps between some words
• When you think you’re finished, print it out on a sheet of normal sized paper. Hold it from your face at arms length. You should still be able to read your poster
• When choosing colors, 2-3 colors will give the best look. Too many will look chaotic and unprofessional, but having no color can make it boring
•Make sure your colors contrast well!
Something that may be easy to read on screen may not look so good once it’s printed
Busy backgrounds
My poster details•Title – 72 pt•Author – 44•Affiliations – 42•Headers – 44•Text – 35•Captions – 32•Font: Gill Sans MT
Some other good fonts