How to Make a Research Poster (NSF-REU)

Research posters are extremely important for a snapshot of your work! Posters should be clear, concise, and they should give an overview of what you researched. Many internships or jobs ask you to create a poster after you complete your research. It is a very applicable skill.

I use Microsoft Powerpoint to create and edit my posters. Change the size to the size of poster you have been assigned and add text boxes for sections. Research posters are a visual representation of a paper. So they should follow that format, an introduction giving an overview of your topic and why it is important, hypothesis, methods, results, discussion, and future work if that is applicable. The priority of the poster is to explain itself without your help. That being said you need an elevator speech to explain your poster. Remember your audience, do not overwhelm your non-scientific audience but do not make mistakes in using terminology to the scientific community.

Please contact me for the PDF of my poster, I made a bold decision to have an attention drawing background. If you decide to follow in my footsteps make sure the design is not overwhelming. Remember, clarity if paramount. Good luck! fd

Me presenting my poster to a chemistry student.

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