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