1. Creating a Professional
Research Poster
a workshop for students
Lorrie Evans
Social Science Research and Instruction Librarian
Auraria Library
Research and Creative
Activities Symposium
University of Colorado Denver
Undergraduate Research
Conference:
a symposium of scholarly works and
creative projects
Metropolitan State University of Denver

2. What your poster should do:
• Communicate
• Promote
• Inform
• Engage
Your poster should make people stop, read,
think and talk to you!

3. Software:
two of the most common options
PowerPoint
Publisher
More functionality than PPT (for posters) but there might be a slight
learning curve if you have never used it.
Under the Design tab, click
“Page Setup”. Set your single
slide to the size of your poster.

4. Required elements
Title & authors
Introduction & Hypothesis
• Objectives
Results
• What did you learn?
Conclusions
Acknowledgments are optional

5. Title and Authors
• Title: Should be the same as that stated on the
abstract you submitted
• Authors: all individuals contributing to the work and
their institutional affiliations.
– The student presenting the poster is listed first and the
faculty member directing the research is listed last.
– If you have any question about whom to list in the title,
discuss this with your faculty sponsor.

6. Introduction/Hypothesis:Introduction/Hypothesis:
• Provide background on the research area,
including brief mention (citation) of related
work by others. State your hypothesis.
• If this research is not hypothesis driven, then
state why you are doing your research, i.e.,
what do you hope to learn.

7. Materials and Methods:
describe the methodology, materials and procedure
– The reader should be able to understand what you did
by looking at this section.
– How did you do your project? What did you use to
create your project or perform your experiment? What
steps did you follow?
– A single figure showing the study or experimental design
can be helpful.
– You can also include this information in figure captions
or results. Again, ask your faculty mentor how he/she
likes to see this done.

8. Results
• Major section of the poster! Include figures and/or tables, as
appropriate for the data.
• Graphs: clearly labeled axes, all variables shown must be
identified, either as a key on the figure or in the legend.
• Photographs: annotate to identify important elements.
• Both tables and figures need to have detailed legends that
should contain highly abbreviated experimental details.
• The results are also often summarized in text form at the end
of this section.

9. Conclusions/Discussion
• Succinctly list the conclusions drawn from the
results.
– What key things were learned? Why are the
results important?
• Future directions:
– What should follow from your work? Suggest
ways to expand on the current research.

10. AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements
• List funding sources, internal or external.
• Acknowledge technical or other types of non-
financial support by individuals who are not
listed in the title.

11. Clarity and Readability
• Font large enough to see from 4 – 6 feet away
• Keep text to a minimum
• Label all graphs and charts completely
• Use a clean design and a logical flow of
information.
• Color: two or three different colors. Use to draw
attention, should not clash.

12. Tips on design
• Consistency: font
type, font size, text
boxes, color
• Flow: What should
the reader see first?
• Learn by looking at
posters
Examples of good posters and
bad are all over the Web
Poster design (Colin Purrington)
great examples – good and bad -
with criticism. Funny too.
http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign
Pimp my poster: Flicker group
where you can view other posters
and comments from peer reviewers.
Post your own draft poster for
feedback.

13. Then ask a friend…
To read your poster and
be critical

14. Present your work
• Anticipate questions about your methods and
conclusions.
• Discuss your research with confidence and
accuracy.
• Be enthusiastic. Over prepare!
Oral presentations: 10 minute limit
Posters: prepare a 2 – 3 minute summary

16. Download the template below from:
http://www.slideshare.net/LorrieEvans/ucd-presentation-template

17. Printing options
Save your presentation as a PDF before sending it to a printer!
Departmental printing: not all, but some departments might have
printers available that can produce posters. Ask!
Commercial print shops: Quotes for 3’ X 4’ posters: 36” x 48”
•Ricoh - (Tivoli) $72 on matte paper. 24 hour notice.
•Speedpro – $51.00/poster paper or $68.00 laminated paper. Various Denver
area locations. 48 hours notice.
•AlphaGraphics – print ready PDF: $49.00 without laminate, $99 laminated.
Design work is $30/hour if requested.
•FedEx – printing/mounting services - they are running a sale, $65.00, normally
$120.00. But the sale just goes until 4/1/14.

18. Information
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Undergraduate Research
Conference: A symposium of
scholarly works and creative
projects
Date: April 25th
, 2014
Location: Student Success Building,
Auraria Campus
University of Colorado Denver
Research and Creative
Activities Symposium
Date: April 25th
, 2014
Location: Anschutz Medical Campus,
RC2 Trivisible Room.