dissertation thesis poster

How to Create a Research Poster

• Poster Basics
• Design Tips
• Logos & Images

What is a Research Poster?

Posters are widely used in the academic community, and most conferences include poster presentations in their program.  Research posters summarize information or research concisely and attractively to help publicize it and generate discussion. 

The poster is usually a mixture of a brief text mixed with tables, graphs, pictures, and other presentation formats. At a conference, the researcher stands by the poster display while other participants can come and view the presentation and interact with the author.

What Makes a Good Poster?

• Important information should be readable from about 10 feet away
• Title is short and draws interest
• Word count of about 300 to 800 words
• Text is clear and to the point
• Use of bullets, numbering, and headlines make it easy to read
• Effective use of graphics, color and fonts
• Consistent and clean layout
• Includes acknowledgments, your name and institutional affiliation

A Sample of a Well Designed Poster

View this poster example in a web browser .  

Image credit: Poster Session Tips by [email protected], via Penn State

Where do I begin?

Answer these three questions:.

• What is the most important/interesting/astounding finding from my research project?
• How can I visually share my research with conference attendees? Should I use charts, graphs, photos, images?
• What kind of information can I convey during my talk that will complement my poster?

What software can I use to make a poster?

A popular, easy-to-use option. It is part of Microsoft Office package and is available on the library computers in rooms LC337 and LC336. ( Advice for creating a poster with PowerPoint ).

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign

Feature-rich professional software that is good for posters including lots of high-resolution images, but they are more complex and expensive.  NYU Faculty, Staff, and Students can access and download the Adobe Creative Suite .

Open Source Alternatives 

• OpenOffice is the free alternative to MS Office (Impress is its PowerPoint alternative).
• Inkscape and Gimp are alternatives to Adobe products.
• For charts and diagrams try Gliffy or Lovely Charts .
• A complete list of free graphics software .

A Sample of a Poorly Designed Poster

View this bad poster example in a browser.

Image Credit: Critique by Better Posters

• Next: Design Tips >>
• Last Updated: Jul 11, 2023 5:09 PM
• URL: https://guides.nyu.edu/posters

How to make academic, scientific & research posters

Making an academic, scientific, or research poster is the process of highlighting your objectives, premises, methodology and finally, results.

Sure, this may sound a bit pompous, but if we are to boil things down to a single, all-encompassing word, then I’ll go with rigor. And although all three share a fair amount of similarities, there are some differences between them that we’ll go through together. At the end of the article, you will have a more precise grasp of:

• What are these posters
• What’s the difference between them

How do you make academic, scientific & research posters

Stay tuned, because in the end, you’ll learn everything there is to know about how to make professional academic, scientific, or research posters using Flipsnack’s Design Studio.

I’m not saying we’ve reinvented the wheel, but our Studio can act as your free online poster maker and help you find the proper aesthetic answer to your ideas. But before we get to that, we have some ground to cover, so let’s get moving.

What’s the benefit of creating posters for your presentations?

I remember having stumbled upon this question in my academic years. I do understand the horrors of having to present your work in front of an eager audience. Well, maybe not that eager, let’s say just present. But that being said, I came to learn that presenting a thesis in front of a crowd doesn’t necessarily have to be a daunting task.

People’s attention span is, for lack of a better word, limited. People hate being bored. Boredom means you get to spend too much time with your own thoughts. We don’t like that. Not at conferences, at least. That’s why an academic, scientific, or research poster can come in handy. Nobody expects you to perform a Shakespearean monologue on stage. The information you present must be:

This is where academic, research or scientific posters really shine a bright light. They are a visual map for your audience, with the purpose of enforcing your ideas. By creating a good poster to showcase your work, you also help yourself by sketching your main ideas.

Have you ever experienced that moment when you simply forget your ‘lines’ in front of a crowd? Words seem to be held captive, and your throat swells up like a pufferfish. Trust me, I know the feeling. And that’s precisely why a poster is essential. Not only does it help your presentation be more appealing, but it also helps you pinpoint your most important ideas. 

Right, now that our anxiety is out the window let’s take a closer look at each of our posters, see exactly what they are, and the differences between them.

What is an academic, research, or scientific poster?

Usually, when we think about posters, we associate them with things like music festivals , arts, and all sorts of colorful gatherings. Making academic, research, or scientific posters is different and involves an altogether different approach.

Summarizing the aforementioned things, these types of academic posters are brief, concise and relevant materials aimed at supporting your presentation. But before going on and defining each and every one of them, there is one last thing I would want to note: their purpose!

That exclamation mark is not just some kind of oratorical gimmick. Posters must have a purpose behind their creation. This purpose will guide you through the process of creating them. Depending on your field of study, these purposes can be numerous:

• You want to get financed
• You look for new collaborators
• Creating new network opportunities
• Maybe you simply want to present a thesis
• Or perhaps this is the product of an extended research

Without further ado, before learning how to make academic, scientific & research posters , let’s take a look at some definitions:

What is an Academic poster?

An academic poster is a condensed way of presenting your information through the means of text and graphics.

What is a Scientific poster?

A scientific poster is a visual representation of your thesis, work methodology, and key findings. Like the academic poster, it also implies the use of text and graphic images in order to convey meaning.

What is a Research poster?

Similar to the scientific poster, the research poster is also a visual representation of your thesis, with a specific focus on graphics, statistics and other measurable metrics.

As you can see, all three of them are very similar in terms of definitions. This may come as no surprise given the fact that usually they are deployed together or as part of the same academic circles.

Nevertheless, if you choose to get a scientific illustration job , there will be some differences in how you format your information for each of them. Some will focus more on graphs and tables, whilst others will emphasize hypotheses more. Let’s take a look at how to make academic, scientific, and research posters step by step.

What is a good Academic poster?

A good academic poster should, first and foremost, be concise and attractive. What does this mean?

Basically, when deciding how to make a good academic poster, you should make sure that all the information you want to pass on can be easily and rapidly understood. Refrain from long blocks of text as they can distract and make the audience lose interest in your presentation. Regardless of how worthy your subject matter is, here are some general guidelines for you to keep in mind when coming up with your poster:

• Use contrasting colors. You want your text to stand out from the background. At the same time, you don’t want to use too many colors. Too many colors are more often than not distracting. After all, we are aiming for an academic poster, not a funk one.
• Keep your text at a minimal level . Focus on highlighting, formatting, and succinctly present your information. Bullet-points are a very effective method of displaying essential information swiftly. Instead of long, convoluted phrases, focus on key ideas.
• Include visual representations of your ideas or findings . This can further help your audience get a sense of what’s going on in your presentation. 
• Don’t turn your poster into a peacock. We touched upon this with colors, but you should also refrain from using too many images. Images are there to enforce your message, not replace it.
• When all is said and done, remember that your academic poster needs to be eye-catching . I know, it kinda’ sounds a bit counterintuitive given the principles above. But I will show you some examples of how you can still turn out a fantastic poster while also retaining that crisp, professional, academic look to it.

Taking a look at the above example, we can see all of the earlier principles we’ve discussed. Now that we have a visual representation of how such a poster should look, let’s break it down and see how you make an academic poster like this.

Naturally, the construction of any type of poster is a process that goes through some form of development. Mainly, there are some steps to be taken into consideration. What are these steps? Since you’ve asked, let’s start with the beginning:

• The visualization phase:
• Who is your audience?
• What are the materials you want to present
• How are you going to present them
• The development phase:
• Logical consistency
• Review and bibliography:
• Collaborators
• Perspectives and further reading

Generally speaking, you don’t want to pass the thousand-word benchmark when making your academic poster. Each big section (such as the Introduction and Key findings) should comprise about two hundred words. Here less is better. Cluttered information is the bane of any academic poster, so keep it clean and simple. Instead of an overabundance of information, leave room for questions. 

Breaking down each phase

I started with the visualization phase because establishing who your target audience is fundamental. Who are you addressing? Is it teachers, academics, fellow students, and peers? Answering this will significantly influence your discourse and give you a better chance of effectively communicating your message.

The materials you want to represent must refer to your study. Here you will have to focus on your key-findings, getting rid of anything that you don’t deem necessary.

In terms of presentation, think about the visual aspect. How many graphs, charts, statistics will you add to your final result. Remember, they are there to complement your ideas, not replace them.

What size should your academic poster be ? Generally speaking, you will aim for anything between A0 (841x1189mm), A1 (594x841mm), and A2 (420x594mm). But this isn’t a general rule. Depending on context and audience, academic posters can be of gargantuan lengths, such as 1250mm wide.

In terms of structure, there are multiple ways in which you can structure your poster. You can go for a more longitudinal approach or a transverse one. Landscape, or portrait orientation. It’s really up to you. The important thing is what you add into those frames of reference. Here’s an example of a possible poster structure:

H1: Title 

H3: Author and collaborators

H2: Introduction

It shouldn’t be longer than 200 words.

H2: Methods or Methodology

Informs your audience about the method of your research

H2: Results

Key findings

H2: Conclusions

What are the merits of the study, how can it further be pursued?

H3: References

Bibliography and further reading

It goes without saying that whatever type of structure you choose, all sections must be linked with an internal logic. You don’t want your audience to feel as if they are a character from Lost. Let’s take a look at another example before moving on to scientific posters:

As you can see, this one is a bit different from the first one I’ve shown you. Why? Because the purpose of this poster is mainly to inform. Given the said purpose, it’s only logical for a Discussion section to exist. But that’s not the point here. The point is that both of them follow a logic. How do you determine this internal logic? Based on your audience and your purpose.

Who do you address and What are you trying to achieve will determine How the end result will look. You arrived at your destination, now all is left is for you to present your academic poster .

How do you make a scientific poster?

Academic posters usually tend to be of a broader approach, with their area of focus being available for both academics and laymen alike. 

That’s not to say that academic posters should lack methodological rigor. On the contrary, their rigor is on par with any other type of scientific discipline. 

What differentiates the scientific poster from the academic one is mainly its audience. Scientific posters address a niche. Usually, they are constructed to appeal to a smaller audience, to a smaller academic circle. 

And although from a structural standpoint, they resemble the academic poster mentioned above, the information presented in them tends to be a bit more technical. And it makes sense. Apart from informing, scientific posters usually have another purpose: that of obtaining financing for further research.

As you can see in the example above, the language of communication is somewhat different. For someone not familiar with molecular biology, the poster above may just as well be some form of contact sheet with an alien civilization. If that it is, in fact, molecular biology. I have no idea. But it really doesn’t matter. You understand the difference between them. One is more general, that being the academic one, whilst the other is more technical.

So, how do you write a scientific abstract, for instance? You focus on your key premise and highlight the value of your research. What are the main benefits and conclusions that we can derive from it? Academic posters had their Introductory part of around 200 words.

The same applies here. A scientific poster’s standard structure somewhat resembles that of a traditional storytelling structure: hook, setup, tension, climax, resolution . You will have a:

• Introduction 
• Methods 
• Results 
• Analysis/discussion 
• Conclusions

General principles:

• Here, more than anywhere else, logical consistency is vital. You want your data to flow in a logical, rational manner.
• Readable text and clear graphics. Your text needs to be razor-sharp and your charts or other data clear and precise. You want to send a clear, definitive message.
• Make headings out of your most important information. Your audience most likely won’t remember everything. Give them a fighting chance and highlight your most important ideas by turning them into headings.
• Make sure all the information you present is understandable . Your audience shouldn’t have to spend more than a few seconds on your tables and data in order to understand it. Sure, a more in-depth understanding is desirable, but this is the purpose of leaving room for questions, right?
• Leave room for questions . Don’t clutter your presentation, instead leave room for open questions. This way, you won’t have to guess what parts of your presentation your audience might be interested in. They ask, and you provide the answers. It’s a win-win situation.

Finally, what are the key aspects you should insist on? When deciding how you’re going to make your scientific poster, these are the main pillars that you should include:

• Methodology
• Recommendations

If you can check all of the above, then you can rest assured that you have a good scientific poster in your hands.

How to make a research poster

Research is a pretty broad term, encompassing both academic papers and scientific ones. If you think about it, every scientific discourse requires some sort of research. 

Semantically, we can say that when talking about research, we focus more on theses. That’s why a research poster can be the starting point of a scientific one, for instance. 

What should you structure your research poster?

Generally speaking, a research poster will have the same structure and components as an academic one, but narrowed down to a tighter, even more concise presentation. 

Your word count shouldn’t pass 800 words, and it could have as little as 300. That’s right, it’s pretty slim. That’s mainly because, as I’ve already mentioned, research posters tend to anticipate a more comprehensive study.

As you can see in the above example, there is much more emphasis on pictures, graphs, and charts than on words. That’s because the point of the research poster is to attract attention.

So, what should you include in your research poster?

• Title 
• Acknowledgments

The guys at Dartmouth did a terrific job at narrowing down these sections, so be sure to check their article on how to design your research poster .

What does a good research poster look like?

• Words count anywhere between 300 and 800 words .
• Information is presented in a crisp and clear fashion .
• Images and graphics should be properly aligned with the text .
• A good research poster should immediately draw attention to itself.
• Uses bullet-points so your audience can follow the information more easily.
• Precise headers and short sentences . Don’t pour the entire English lexicon in there.
• Follows a simple yet logically sound structure .

There are multiple ways to create a research poster . Whichever one you pick, just don’t forget to follow the principles highlighted above.

When thinking about how to make an academic, scientific, or research poster, focus on these three aspects:

If you have a clear outline of who your audience is and what you are trying to convey, then the rest will pretty much take care of itself. In terms of the information you present, don’t forget to keep it simple, precise, condensed, and logically organized.

The internal logic and flow are vital for your audience to understand your reasoning and discourse. And, depending on your purpose, it can also be critical in grabbing funding or other resources.

Keep it no longer than a thousand words, and stick to a limited number of colors. Four should be your guideline, but you can juggle with this as long as the end result doesn’t become too distracting.

How to make Academic, Scientific & Research Posters using Flipsnack

If your emphasis when making your academic materials is on rigorosity and conciseness, ours is on offering answers. And by answers, we mean online solutions. Ideas are yours. Although we can definitely help you out if you’re running through a dry spell, we are here to offer you the means of translating those ideas. We pride ourselves on being a complete content creation tool and are ready to prove it to you.

You can take two paths when making an academic, scientific, or research poster with us. You can either design your poster from scratch or upload an already existing PDF and enhance it using our Design Studio.

In the below image, you can see the standard formats that we offer. You can manually set the Width and Height to achieve the dimensions needed for your poster. As we’ve talked about earlier, the general dimensions of an academic, scientific & research poster vary between A0 (841x1189mm), A1 (594x841mm), and A2 (420x594mm). But these are only general guidelines. Maybe your context requires you to push the boundaries and fill up the room. If you choose to Create your poster from Scratch, the largest size possible with our Design Studio is A1 or A2. You will have to set the Width and Height in pixels, the translation from millimeters to pixels being:

• A1: 2245 x 3179 px
• A2: 1587 x 2245 px

But as I’ve said, these are only general guidelines. Sizes can vary depending on context, so if you want something bigger, then go for it. Our Design Studio supports anything up to a maximum limit of 3500 px.

Establish your own frames of work and make that poster happen! Hit Create, and then our Design Studio will open its gates.

On the left side menu, you will find all the options needed for creating your perfect design. If you choose to upload a PDF, then this will be an enhancing experience. By enhancing, we mean that you can make your poster interactive by adding videos, GIFs, links to further reading, tags, and many more. If you are thinking of sharing your poster via social media, direct mail, or embedding it on your website, then turning your poster into an interactive experience is definitely something worth pondering upon.

If, however, you decided to make your poster from scratch, then on the mentioned left menu, you will find all the tools needed. Text, pictures, headings, shapes, and many more. You can also upload your own files, so there’s basically no design limitations.

After you’re done editing, make sure to enable the Download and Print options and you’re done. Your poster is ready to meet the stage. Just take a look at the below example:

As you can see, we’ve transformed a blank canvas into more than just a presentation. Using our Design Studio and taking advantage of all our editing and creation options, you can also create an online poster like that. Or even better! Use your imagination fully. Our tool can definitely keep up the pace.

Making an academic, scientific, or research poster is transforming abstract ideas into a visual, comprehensive language. Just make sure to keep in mind the principles that we’ve highlighted. Otherwise, it would be like presenting a fantastic poster to an audience of cats.

When all is said and done, a professional-looking poster can help alleviate some of the horrors of being on stage. And although we’re not psychologists, we can definitely assure you that having a well-designed presentation can boost your confidence. You are the master of your information. Transform the making of an academic, scientific & research poster into a jaw-dropping experience!  It’s your study, your area of expertise, your turn!

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Creating a Poster

What exactly is a poster presentation.

A poster presentation combines text and graphics to present your project in a way that is visually interesting and accessible. It allows you to display your work to a large group of other scholars and to talk to and receive feedback from interested viewers.

Poster sessions have been very common in the sciences for some time, and they have recently become more popular as forums for the presentation of research in other disciplines like the social sciences, service learning, the humanities, and the arts.

Poster presentation formats differ from discipline to discipline, but in every case, a poster should clearly articulate what you did, how you did it, why you did it, and what it contributes to your field and the larger field of human knowledge.

What goals should I keep in mind as I construct my poster?

• Clarity of content. You will need to decide on a small number of key points that you want your viewers to take away from your presentation, and you will need to articulate those ideas clearly and concisely.
• Visual interest and accessibility. You want viewers to notice and take interest in your poster so that they will pause to learn more about your project, and you will need the poster’s design to present your research in a way that is easy for those viewers to make sense of it.

Who will be viewing my poster?

The answer to this question depends upon the context in which you will be presenting your poster. If you are presenting at a conference in your field, your audience will likely contain mostly people who will be familiar with the basic concepts you’re working with, field-specific terminology, and the main debates facing your field and informing your research. This type of audience will probably most interested in clear, specific accounts of the what and the how of your project.

If you are presenting in a setting where some audience members may not be as familiar with your area of study, you will need to explain more about the specific debates that are current in your field and to define any technical terms you use. This audience will be less interested in the specific details and more interested in the what and why of your project—that is, your broader motivations for the project and its impact on their own lives.

How do I narrow my project and choose what to put on my poster?

Probably less than you would like! One of the biggest pitfalls of poster presentations is filling your poster with so much text that it overwhelms your viewers and makes it difficult for them to tell which points are the most important. Viewers should be able to skim the poster from several feet away and easily make out the most significant points.

The point of a poster is not to list every detail of your project. Rather, it should explain the value of your research project. To do this effectively, you will need to determine your take-home message. What is the single most important thing you want your audience to understand, believe, accept, or do after they see your poster?

Once you have an idea about what that take-home message is, support it by adding some details about what you did as part of your research, how you did it, why you did it, and what it contributes to your field and the larger field of human knowledge.

What kind of information should I include about what I did?

This is the raw material of your research: your research questions, a succinct statement of your project’s main argument (what you are trying to prove), and the evidence that supports that argument. In the sciences, the what of a project is often divided into its hypothesis and its data or results. In other disciplines, the what is made up of a claim or thesis statement and the evidence used to back it up.

Remember that your viewers won’t be able to process too much detailed evidence; it’s your job to narrow down this evidence so that you’re providing the big picture. Choose a few key pieces of evidence that most clearly illustrate your take-home message. Often a chart, graph, table, photo, or other figure can help you distill this information and communicate it quickly and easily.

What kind of information should I include about how I did it?

Include information about the process you followed as you conducted your project. Viewers will not have time to wade through too many technical details, so only your general approach is needed. Interested viewers can ask you for details.

What kind of information should I include about why I did it?

Give your audience an idea about your motivation for this project. What real-world problems or questions prompted you to undertake this project? What field-specific issues or debates influenced your thinking? What information is essential for your audience to be able to understand your project and its significance? In some disciplines, this information appears in the background or rationale section of a paper.

What kind of information should I include about its contribution ?

Help your audience to see what your project means for you and for them. How do your findings impact scholars in your field and members of the broader intellectual community? In the sciences, this information appears in the discussion section of a paper.

How will the wording of my ideas on my poster be different from my research paper?

In general, you will need to simplify your wording. Long, complex sentences are difficult for viewers to absorb and may cause them to move on to the next poster. Poster verbiage must be concise, precise, and straightforward. And it must avoid jargon. Here is an example:

Wording in a paper: This project sought to establish the ideal specifications for clinically useful wheelchair pressure mapping systems, and to use these specifications to influence the design of an innovative wheelchair pressure mapping system.

Wording on a poster:

Aims of study

• Define the ideal wheelchair pressure mapping system
• Design a new system to meet these specifications

Once I have decided what to include, how do I actually design my poster?

The effectiveness of your poster depends on how quickly and easily your audience can read and interpret it, so it’s best to make your poster visually striking. You only have a few seconds to grab attention as people wander past your poster; make the most of those seconds!

How are posters usually laid out?

In general, people expect information to flow left-to-right and top-to-bottom. Viewers are best able to absorb information from a poster with several columns that progress from left to right.

Even within these columns, however, there are certain places where viewers’ eyes naturally fall first and where they expect to find information.

Imagine your poster with an upside-down triangle centered from the top to the bottom. It is in this general area that people tend to look first and is often used for the title, results, and conclusions. Secondary and supporting information tend to fall to the sides, with the lower right having the more minor information such as acknowledgements (including funding), and personal contact information.

• Main Focus Area Location of research fundamentals: Title, Authors, Institution, Abstract, Results, Conclusion
• Secondary Emphasis Location of important info: Intro, Results or Findings, Summary
• Supporting Area Location of supporting info: Methods, Discussion
• Final Info Area Location of supplemental info: References, Acknowledgments

How much space should I devote to each section?

This will depend on the specifics of your project. In general, remember that how much space you devote to each idea suggests how important that section is. Make sure that you allot the most space to your most important points.

How much white space should I leave on my poster?

White space is helpful to your viewers; it delineates different sections, leads the eye from one point to the next, and keeps the poster from being visually overwhelming. In general, leave 10—30% of your poster as white space.

Should I use graphics?

Absolutely! Visual aids are one of the most effective ways to make your poster visually striking, and they are often a great way to communicate complex information straightforwardly and succinctly. If your project deals with lots of empirical data, your best bet will be a chart, graph, or table summarizing that data and illustrating how that data confirms your hypothesis.

If you don’t have empirical data, you may be able to incorporate photographs, illustrations, annotations, or other items that will pique your viewers’ interest, communicate your motivation, demonstrate why your project is particularly interesting or unique.

Don’t incorporate visual aids just for the sake of having a pretty picture on your poster. The visual aids should contribute to your overall message and convey some piece of information that your viewers wouldn’t otherwise get just from reading your poster’s text.

How can I make my poster easy to read?

There are a number of tricks you can use to aid readability and emphasize crucial ideas. In general:

• Use a large font. Don’t make the text smaller in order to fit more onto the poster. Make sure that 95% of the text on your poster can be read from 4 feet away. If viewers can’t make out the text from a distance, they’re likely to walk away.
• Choose a sans-serif font like Helvetica or Verdana, not a serif font, like Times New Roman. Sans-serif fonts are easier to read because they don’t have extraneous hooks on every letter. Here is an example of a sans-serif and a serif font:
• Once you have chosen a font, be consistent in its usage. Use just one font.
• Don’t single-space your text. Use 1.5- or double-spacing to make the text easier to read.

For main points:

• Use bold, italicized, or colored fonts, or enclose text in boxes. Save this kind of emphasis for only a few key words, phrases, or sentences. Too much emphasized text makes it harder, not easier, to locate important points.
• AVOID USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, WHICH CAN BE HARD TO READ.
• Make your main points easy to find by setting them off with bullets or numbers.

What is my role as the presenter of my poster?

When you are standing in front of your poster, you—and what you choose to say—are as important as the actual poster. Be ready to talk about your project, answer viewers’ questions, provide additional details about your project, and so on.

How should I prepare for my presentation?

Once your poster is finished, you should re-familiarize yourself with the larger project you’re presenting. Remind yourself about those details you ended up having to leave out of the poster, so that you will be able to bring them up in discussions with viewers. Then, practice, practice, practice!

Show your poster to advisors, professors, friends, and classmates before the day of the symposium to get a feel for how viewers might respond. Prepare a four- to five-minute overview of the project, where you walk these pre-viewers through the poster, drawing their attention to the most critical points and filling in interesting details as needed. Make note of the kinds of questions these pre-viewers have, and be ready to answer those questions. You might even consider making a supplemental handout that provides additional information or answers predictable questions.

How long should I let audience members look at the poster before engaging them in discussion?

Don’t feel as if you have to start talking to viewers the minute they stop in front of your poster. Give them a few moments to read and process the information. Once viewers have had time to acquaint themselves with your project, offer to guide them through the poster. Say something like “Hello. Thanks for stopping to view my poster. Would you like a guided tour of my project?” This kind of greeting often works better than simply asking “Do you have any questions?” because after only a few moments, viewers might not have had time to come up with questions, even though they are interested in hearing more about your project.

Should I read from my poster?

No! Make sure you are familiar enough with your poster that you can talk about it without looking at it. Use the poster as a visual aid, pointing to it when you need to draw viewers’ attention to a chart, photograph, or particularly interesting point.

Sample Posters

Click on the links below to open a PDF of each sample poster.

“Quantitative Analysis of Artifacts in Volumetric DSA: The Relative Contributions of Beam Hardening and Scatter to Vessel Dropout Behind Highly Attenuating Structures”  James R. Hermus, Timothy P. Szczykutowicz, Charles M. Strother, and Charles Mistretta

Departments of Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering, and Radiology: University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Self-Care Interventions for the Management of Mouth Sores in Hematology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy” Stephanie L. Dinse and Catherine Cherwin

School of Nursing: University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Enhancing the Fluorescence of Wisconsin Infrared Phytofluor: Wi-Phy for Potential Use in Infrared Imaging”  Jerad J. Simmons and Katrina T. Forest

Department of Bacteriology: University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Quoting and Paraphrasing

Writing Annotated Bibliographies

Creating Poster Presentations

Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper

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Doctoral College

‘Ten top tips’ for designing a research poster

Shahan Choudhury (he/him) is an Applied Linguist and a postgraduate researcher in Education. His PhD focuses on children’s and teachers’ understanding of English grammar in reading and writing contexts and how grammar is used. He is a part-time lecturer in Academic English at Anglia Ruskin University. At Exeter, he co-delivers Designing Research Posters, Writing Journal Articles and Academic Writing. His aim is to help others improve their reading and writing through the understanding of grammar.

If you are considering designing a research poster, get started with the ten top tips below developed by the Designing Effective Research Posters skills training leads.

• The key aim of a research poster is to summarise research results in a concise and attractive Always keep this point at the forefront of your mind during the design stage. Totally stuck for ideas? Have a look at some research posters online, or perhaps stroll through some University buildings which sometimes have them up, such as the hallways of Hatherley or Washington Singer on Streatham.
• Why am I doing this poster?
• What is my core message?
• Perhaps most importantly – What do I want to achieve (e.g., sparking discussion, networking, attracting funders)?
• The university logo (and funders’ one, if applicable), which you can access from here: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/departments/communication/communications/design/downloads/
• Your name with an asterisk, and others that contributed to the project
• Contact information of all contributors
• Adapting your message to your audience : If your audience is all within your discipline, how would you change what you say, for example for an interdisciplinary conference? Think about things you would need to do to make it accessible for each audience.
• The words you will use. How much / what jargon is appropriate?
• Sentence length – short is preferred!
• Keep it formal
• Keep explanations as simple as possible
• When using images and diagrams, are they self-explanatory, or is a little annotation needed?
• Font is clear and legible
• Images​ are appropriate and relevant
• It is not over-crowded
• It is not text-heavy
• You use colours that complement each other
• It takes time! Give yourself plenty of time to work on it – it is fun but can take longer than you think.
• Reuse your templates ! If you have done steps 1-3 above, you should be well on your way to designing your personalised template. Remember, you can re-use it each time you do a different poster.
• The extra flair: Give your poster an edge by adding ORCiD, QR codes, or even a link to a video!
• And finally: show your poster to a friend, colleague and family member even, asking them what they think of it – you might be pleasantly surprised at how much you learn by getting other peoples’ views!

We hope this helps. Enjoy getting started with your research poster!

Subject guides

Dissertation survival guide: posters and presentations.

• Choosing a topic
• Literature searching
• Evaluating your sources
• Methodology & Data Analysis
• Referencing

Posters and presentations

On some courses, you may be asked to create a poster or presentation to present part of your dissertation or project.

Use the resources below to help you put together a high-quality poster, and present in a confident and professional way.

Always check your Brightspace module, and assignment brief, for any specific guidance you need to follow on the layout and format of your poster or presentation.

Presentations

Nervous about giving a presentation? Use the links below to help you practice and deliver in a confident, professional way.

• PowerPoint Presenter Coach In Office365 (available to all Huddersfield students), PowerPoint has a built-in "presenter coach" feature. Use this to practice your presentation, and get real-time feedback on the speed and clarity of your speech.
• Record your presentation If you need to record a version of your presentation to upload online, use these instructions for recording voiceover to PowerPoint.
• Presenting in Teams If you need to give an online presentation using Microsoft Teams, here are some instructions on sharing your PowerPoint in a Teams meeting.
• Develop your presentation skills Use these LinkedIn Learning online courses to develop your presentation skills.

Some courses may require you to produce a poster showing part of your research findings. Or, you may wish to present your work at an academic conference. See the links below for advice on presenting your work with a poster.

• How to create a research poster Simple step-by-step guide from New York University.
• How to design an award-winning poster More detailed advice on taking your poster design to the next level, from London School of Economics.
• How to create a better research poster in less time YouTube video with advice on making an eye-catching poster that can be easily read from a distance.
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Research in the Biological and Life Sciences: A Guide for Cornell Researchers: Poster Making and Printing

• Books and Dissertations
• Databases and Journals
• Locating Theses
• Resource Not at Cornell?
• Citing Sources
• Staying Current
• Measuring your research impact
• Plagiarism and Copyright
• Data Management
• Literature Reviews
• Evidence Synthesis and Systematic Reviews
• Writing an Honors Thesis
• Poster Making and Printing
• Research Help

Useful links and resources

• Colin Purrington's Designing conference posters Great (and funny) guide to designing scientific posters. Also has useful poster templates
• NCSU's tutorial on poster design Excellent tutorial on creating and presenting scientific posters
• 60 Second Poster Evaluation Link to poster evaluation criteria from NCSU
• Sample posters from exercise Some of the sample posters from NCSU used in our exercise
• Cornell Center for Materials Research guide to poster design and printing This site has great Step by step poster design tutorials and templates in the lefthand navigation bar.
• UNC graduate school's poster and presentation resources Good roundup of links to poster making and presentation advice
• Developing Poster Presentations in the Social Sciences
• Plotter printing at Mann
• Finding Images at Cornell guide
• Other free poster templates at PosterPresentations.com
• Cornell logos from visual identity site Scroll down to Logo Assets to find logos
• Creative Commons Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation. You can also find CC searches in Google Images (under the gear icon in Advanced Search) and other sites like Flickr
• Google Images Advanced Search In Google Advanced Search you can choose a large image size, a particular image type or color, public domain images from .gov sites, or Creative Commons licensed images under usage rights.

VIDEO: How to create a better research poster in less time (including templates)

This 20-minute video created by Mike Morrison of the Open Science Framework, proposes a better way to make research posters by avoiding the "wall of text" approach. Presentation templates to accompany the video are also available.

VIDEO: Making an academic research poster-the how to

This useful 10 minute tutorial from Jerry Overmyer of the University of Northern Colorado's Mathematics and Science Teaching (MAST) Institute walks you through the basics of adding text and images to a PowerPoint poster template.   

Poster Session PPT

• Poster Printing at Mann Overview of the 3 plotters at Mann and how to use them to print out a poster

Presentation Resources

Creating a poster is one thing, but creating an effective presentation is another. The links below can help you get started and talk about general design issues, both practical, and further on, theoretical. For more specific resources on software, check the library catalog for the subject Microsoft PowerPoint (Computer file).

• Presentation Zen blog
• Presentation Zen Design
• Designing Effective Presentations
• The cognitive style of PowerPoint
• Beyond bullet points : using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 to create presentations that inform, motivate, and inspire
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How to prepare a scientific poster

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By ELISABETH PAIN, Science Careers Poster presentations at scientific conferences can provide early-career researchers with valuable opportunities to practice their communication skills, receive feedback on their research, and expand their network. Science Careers asked researchers in a range of disciplines and career stages to share their tips for making the most of presenting a poster at a conference, including any adjustments they’ve made for conferences held online. The responses have been edited for clarity and brevity. Read the full article on Science Careers .

Research Posters

• Introduction
• First steps
• Creating content
• Layout and structure
• Colour and style
• Video tutorial

One project, three posters

• Poster examples

External links

We've created two research posters based on the same dissertation, to show how the same content can be adapted and presented in different ways:

Climate Change and Environment Science:

https://www.climatechangeandglobalhealth.com/ award-winning-research-conference-posters-1

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How to Present Your Dissertation Research at a Poster Session

16th October 2015

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Dissertation posters

Dissertation posters designed by 3rd year psychology students 2020.

• The Chicago School
• The Chicago School Library
• Research Guides

Dissertation & Thesis Conference

• Virtual Poster Session

About the Virtual Poster Session

Poster session giveaway.

• How to Create a Virtual Poster
• 2023 Conference Session Recordings

The Dissertation and Theses Conference  Virtual Poster Session provides an opportunity for doctoral students to present their dissertation ideas and research in a fun, relaxed environment. The 2023 session will be held synchronously on Sunday, October 22, from 3:00-5:00 pm , and  asynchronously October 22 -October 29 . Participants can choose to participate in either the live or asynchronous sessions, or both!

Who Should Participate?

We invite participation by students at any phase in the dissertation process, including those beginning the process, those with more developed theoretical frameworks and preliminary findings, and those in the final stages of writing. Students who participated in the previous  poster sessions are welcome to present in this year's session.

Why Should You Participate?

The session provides an informal setting for students to discuss their ideas with faculty and students from a variety of disciplines. Participants may find it helpful to receive feedback, and as a way to refine ideas, get suggestions for measurement and analysis, and simply talk through your dissertation.

What is the difference between the synchronous and asynchronous poster options?

• The live/ synchronous poster session is on Sunday, October 22, from 3:00-5:00 pm. Participants will typically have a few minutes to talk about their poster, along with time to answer questions, engage in discussion, etc.
• The asynchronous session provides an opportunity for those that are unable to participate in the live session, or feel more comfortable participating asynchronously. Participants will be provided with an an online space to upload the poster, along with a discussion thread that will be open for a week to dissertation conference attendees & faculty to ask questions and provide feedback. Participants will be expected to respond to questions posted in the discussion during the Oct. 22-29 session.

Invitations to attend the poster sessions will go out to all those that registered for the Dissertation Conference, as well as Chicago School faculty. 

How Do You Participate?

Let us know you are interested in participating in the virtual poster session by filling out the Poster Session Registration Form.

Do You Need More Information?

Email us at: [email protected]

For those presenting a poster:

• A $100 Amazon gift card will be awarded to the first 6 students who sign up to present a poster, and then participate by presenting their poster on Sunday, October 22, from 3:00-5:00 pm or asynchronously October 22 -October 29.*
• Additional students who sign up to present a poster session, then participate by presenting their poster on Sunday, October 22, from 3:00-5:00 pm, OR asynchronously October 22 -October 29,  will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card*

*Students who sign up but then do not present or attend will be disqualiPoster Session Giveawayfied from the award or drawing.

For those attending a poster session:

• Students who attend the virtual poster session synchronously on October 22 to 3:00-5:00 pm, or asynchronously October 22-29 by participating in the poster session discussions will be entered into a drawing for $25 Amazon gift cards. A total of 20 cards will be given away in this drawing.
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What’s Included: The Dissertation Template

If you’re preparing to write your dissertation, thesis or research project, our free dissertation template is the perfect starting point. In the template, we cover every section step by step, with clear, straightforward explanations and examples .

The template’s structure is based on the tried and trusted best-practice format for formal academic research projects such as dissertations and theses. The template structure reflects the overall research process, ensuring your dissertation or thesis will have a smooth, logical flow from chapter to chapter.

The dissertation template covers the following core sections:

• The title page/cover page
• Abstract (sometimes also called the executive summary)
• Table of contents
• List of figures /list of tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction  (also available: in-depth introduction template )
• Chapter 2: Literature review  (also available: in-depth LR template )
• Chapter 3: Methodology (also available: in-depth methodology template )
• Chapter 4: Research findings /results (also available: results template )
• Chapter 5: Discussion /analysis of findings (also available: discussion template )
• Chapter 6: Conclusion (also available: in-depth conclusion template )
• Reference list

Each section is explained in plain, straightforward language , followed by an overview of the key elements that you need to cover within each section. We’ve also included practical examples to help you understand exactly what’s required in each section.

The cleanly-formatted Google Doc can be downloaded as a fully editable MS Word Document (DOCX format), so you can use it as-is or convert it to LaTeX.

FAQs: Dissertation Template

What format is the template (doc, pdf, ppt, etc.).

The dissertation template is provided as a Google Doc. You can download it in MS Word format or make a copy to your Google Drive. You’re also welcome to convert it to whatever format works best for you, such as LaTeX or PDF.

What types of dissertations/theses can this template be used for?

The template follows the standard best-practice structure for formal academic research projects such as dissertations or theses, so it is suitable for the vast majority of degrees, particularly those within the sciences.

Some universities may have some additional requirements, but these are typically minor, with the core structure remaining the same. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to double-check your university’s requirements before you finalise your structure.

Will this work for a research paper?

A research paper follows a similar format, but there are a few differences. You can find our research paper template here .

Is this template for an undergrad, Masters or PhD-level thesis?

This template can be used for a dissertation, thesis or research project at any level of study. It may be slight overkill for an undergraduate-level study, but it certainly won’t be missing anything.

How long should my dissertation/thesis be?

This depends entirely on your university’s specific requirements, so it’s best to check with them. As a general ballpark, Masters-level projects are usually 15,000 – 20,000 words in length, while Doctoral-level projects are often in excess of 60,000 words.

What about the research proposal?

If you’re still working on your research proposal, we’ve got a template for that here .

We’ve also got loads of proposal-related guides and videos over on the Grad Coach blog .

How do I write a literature review?

We have a wealth of free resources on the Grad Coach Blog that unpack how to write a literature review from scratch. You can check out the literature review section of the blog here.

How do I create a research methodology?

We have a wealth of free resources on the Grad Coach Blog that unpack research methodology, both qualitative and quantitative. You can check out the methodology section of the blog here.

Can I share this dissertation template with my friends/colleagues?

Yes, you’re welcome to share this template. If you want to post about it on your blog or social media, all we ask is that you reference this page as your source.

Can Grad Coach help me with my dissertation/thesis?

Within the template, you’ll find plain-language explanations of each section, which should give you a fair amount of guidance. However, you’re also welcome to consider our dissertation and thesis coaching services .