Presentations can either be self-contained posters or a group of individual exhibits that can be pinned to a poster board that we will provide. Posters/exhibits should take up a space no larger than 2 ft. x 3 ft. with a portrait orientation and should be pinned to the poster board provided. Please contact Nan Anderson, URCA Coordinator (893-2319 or urca@Ltsc.ucsb.edu) if your display is not in this format. Posters/exhibits must be set up and ready to view 15-20 minutes before the start of the poster session. Subject to the requirements of his or her class schedule, the author of the poster must be present and remain for the entire session so that attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions.
The goal for your poster exhibit is to have an organized and attractively displayed presentation of your research findings or creative work. Posters/exhibits should be self-explanatory and readable within about five minutes. Your poster should contain the following elements:
Title: At the top of your poster/exhibit you should have a title that is both short and very descriptive of your project. As a rule, the title should be easily readable at a distance of about 4-5 feet.
Name and Affiliation: Directly under the title, you should include your name, your faculty sponsor’s name, name(s) of any co-investigator(s), and your university’s name and department. The name and affiliation section is usually about 20-30% smaller than the title section.
Body of the Poster/Exhibit:The information about your work can be presented in the following categories:
1) Abstract: A brief synopsis, one or two paragraphs long, of the entire work described in the poster. The abstract should be understandable, allowing the readers to decide whether they would like to continue reading the entire poster. The abstract should contain (a) the purpose of the study, (b) a brief statement of what you did, (c) a concise statement of the major findings, and (d) the major conclusions. Do not include details of the methods.
2) Introduction: The purpose of the introduction is to present the question being explored by your research and to place it in the context of current knowledge about the topic. The introduction should convince the reader of the significance of your study. To do this well in a poster is a challenge. Be brief, but include the important points to be sure the reader sees the relevance of your work.
3) Methods: In this section you should describe your procedures. Describe your methods in sufficient detail to allow a reader who works in your field to understand how you collected your data. Illustrations are appropriate for complex experimental design, etc.
4) Results: This section is intended to summarize the data. Report the results of any statistical tests here. Present all of your results, whether positive or negative. A table or figure may substitute for a written summary as long as each table or figure has a legend that explains the graphic clearly.
5) Discussion: In this section you should interpret the meaning of your results with respect to the original questions. The discussion should include your conclusions about the answers to the questions that motivated your research that you described in the introduction. If appropriate, mention any alternative explanation for your results and mention possible explanations for unexpected results.
6) Literature Cited: This section is optional in the poster unless citations are used in the text. Include only those papers cited in the text, and do not cite a paper unless your have read it yourself. Cite all of your references in text and list them in the Literature Cited section, using a format from a major journal within your discipline.
7) Graphics, Tables, Photos, and Other: Illustrations, tables, figures, photographs, and diagrams need to have unique identification numbers and legends. In the text, use the numbers to refer to specific graphics or pictures. In your legends, include a full explanation and, where appropriate, include color keys, scale, etc.
Consult your mentor and make sure that he/she reviews your descriptions before they are ready to set up on the poster.