{"id":1346,"date":"2020-04-20T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T08:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/?p=1346"},"modified":"2020-04-20T09:00:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T08:00:36","slug":"why-create-a-research-poster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2020\/04\/20\/why-create-a-research-poster\/","title":{"rendered":"Why create a research poster?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jennifer Finlay is a second year PhD student at the Streatham Campus, University of Exeter. Jennifer completed her undergraduate\u00a0MSci\u00a0degree in biological sciences at the University of Aberdeen in 2018.\u00a0Jennifer is currently looking to improve the production and welfare standards of lumpfish, a cleaner fish used in salmon farming, using water chemistry manipulation. Jennifer is partnered with Ocean Matters, the largest producer of lumpfish in the U.K. Jennifer enjoys public communication of her\u00a0research, and\u00a0thinks that it is a vital part of her degree. After completing her PhD, Jennifer\u00a0would lie to\u00a0work in the aquaculture industry before\u00a0going on to teach.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Research posters are an effective method for presenting your research in a creative way. There are an increasing number of ways to\u00a0design\u00a0a poster, and the research community is starting to embrace\u00a0and encourage more\u00a0innovative poster designs\u00a0(see below for more detail).<\/p>\n

For those who do not yet feel comfortable presenting orally or for those who like to present their research in a less structured way than oral presentations, posters are the way to go! Poster formats are only limited by the space that you are allotted (e.g. A0 portrait or A1 landscape); the content and the way you present your poster is up to you!<\/p>\n

Whether you are presenting your research to the public, or at an academic conference, you will likely be given a \u2018poster presentation slot\u2019- the time at which you are expected to stand by your poster, sometimes with a drink or snack in hand, and answer questions. This informal presentation format allows you to tailor the poster to the audience. With oral presentations, once you have made your presentation, there is seldom an opportunity to change the direction of your presentation as you present. With posters, however, the presentation is more of a discussion; you can gauge how much background knowledge the audience has and adjust your presentation accordingly.<\/p>\n

What is a research poster?<\/b><\/p>\n

Research posters are not just for researchers with data, they are also a great way to introduce your research before you have started gathering data; you can outline your proposed project direction\u00a0in a creative manner and get helpful feedback from the audience.\u00a0When you don\u2019t have data, focus on the background information, the aims and objectives of your research, and any methodology which you plan to follow to get answers.<\/p>\n

When you do have data, research posters are a great way to highlight specific results which are exciting, novel, and\/or interesting.\u00a0Remember, posters are summaries of results; only show the interesting and unusual as cluttered posters can look intimidating and be hard to navigate.\u00a0Generally, when you have data, it is a good idea to follow: what the background is and why you are researching the topic, the aims and objectives of your research, how you performed the research, a discussion of the results, the main take away, plus what you\u00a0intend to do\u00a0next.<\/p>\n

Innovative poster designs<\/p>\n

When you have set up your poster next to tens or sometimes hundreds of others, it is key that your poster\u00a0stands out<\/b>!\u00a0<\/b>So, you don\u2019t want a poster like the one below\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This poster is\u00a0clearly laid\u00a0out,\u00a0however,\u00a0it\u00a0is unlikely to capture anyone as it looks\u00a0plain\u00a0and there is too much text! See poster ideas below for ideas on how to capture\u00a0an\u00a0audience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

The above\u00a0posters have attractive and simple colour schemes, and clear, easy to follow messages. To create an attractive and informative poster, follow these steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Know your brief<\/b>–<\/em> what are the dimensions of your poster? Change the dimensions\u00a0before<\/b>\u00a0you start designing the poster. See this link\u00a0how to change the slide size in PowerPoint.<\/a>\u00a0If you are using another version of PowerPoint or another type of software, Google and YouTube will help you. For different poster dimensions, see below.<\/li>\n
  2. Know your audience<\/em><\/b>–<\/em> if you are creating a poster for the public or people who know little about your research area, focus more on the background than data, and use plain language (no technical terms which you will have to explain over and over again). If you are looking to disseminate research results to an academic audience, make sure you have an overview (2 or 3 sentences) of the background and use the rest of the poster to show what you have done and how you did it. If you are looking to present your research to industry, a mix of the above is good; industry are likely to know some of the background, but maybe not all, and will be looking for the impacts of your research (i.e. are there economic or social implications?)<\/li>\n
  3. Essential things to have on your poster include:<\/em>
    \na)<\/strong>\u00a0Your name, a picture of yourself, your professional email, and your home institution(s):<\/b>\u00a0you may not be able to stand by your poster for the whole session and so people who are interested must be able to find you either at the conference, or contact you later on.
    \nb) Any\u00a0<\/b>supervisor\u2019s and collaborator\u2019s names and institution
    \n<\/b>c) Sponsor and funder (e.g. research funders or travel grants\u00a0<\/b>a<\/b>t the event which you are presenting)<\/b>\u00a0names and logos<\/b><\/li>\n
  4. Make the\u00a0take away\u00a0message the biggest thing on the page!<\/b>\u00a0<\/em>The audience doesn\u2019t want to have to read through the whole poster to decide whether it interests them- make the most interesting information\u00a0big, bold, and colourful!!!<\/b><\/li>\n
  5. Where you can, use images, graphs\/charts, and tables instead of text. <\/em>Large amounts of text are off putting to the reader, so keep it simple, and have relevant images to go alongside text.\u00a0Make sure the images used are owned by you or are free to share.<\/li>\n
  6. Font, text size, and colour is key<\/b>! You want to have a simple colour scheme which is attractive but not overwhelming to the reader.\u00a0Remember, not everyone has perfect vision, so make sure that key phrases and important information is clear.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Top tip:\u00a0<\/b>Print out different\u00a0fonts,\u00a0font sizes, and\u00a0colours\u00a0on an A4 piece of paper to see how\u00a0they look from a distance. Are they clear?\u00a0Do they stand out?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. If you don\u2019t want to have references on your poster as it makes the layout cluttered,\u00a0print mini versions of your posters or the highlights on an A4 piece of paper with the references on the back<\/b>. Put the mini copies in a plastic sleeve and pin them to your poster board for people to take away.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. If you are\u00a0working on sensitive data or research which is not quite finished yet\u00a0<\/b>and<\/b>\u00a0you don\u2019t want people to\u00a0<\/b>take a picture of or post about on\u00a0<\/b>social media<\/b>, use these signs (available from Google) on your posters:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

        Remember,\u00a0it is not what more can you add to the poster, but what can you take away and have your poster still make sense<\/b>– you cannot fit all of your research onto a poster so make sure that only relevant and interesting information and results are on there!\u00a0If you are available to present your poster, make sure you are smiling to encourage people to come and talk to you about your research!\u00a0There will be many posters around you, each competing for an audience. Make sure your poster has\u00a0relevant content and is attractive<\/b>! Feel free to bring along some additional information or props- sweets can be a good prop to capture the audience!<\/p>\n

        Written by:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Jennifer Finlay<\/p>\n

        Twitter: @lumpyjenny<\/a><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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