Scientific Poster (ENG)

• Studievaardigheden
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4-6

E-learning

Scientific poster

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How do you use this course?

At the end of this crash course…

- ... you can independently design a good scientific posted based on a scientific study

- ... you know how to present a scientific poster

Learning objectives

This e-learning consists of three phases:

What are we going to do?

Phase 1 - Design of the poster

In this first phase, we will explain how the design of the poster comes about. Scientific posters often have a similar layout that clearly presents all the components for the poster. In this first phase, we will explain, among other things, which programmes you can use and which design choices you could make at this point.

Phase 2 - Content of the poster

Now that the layout and design of the poster are known, you can give textual content to the different parts of the poster. In this phase, we address the best way to add text and illustrations to your poster.

Phase 3 - Poster presentation

Presenting a scientific poster involves a short and powerful story, which we also call a pitch. In this final stage, we give some tips on how best to present your poster.

Before we explain what we consider a good scientific poster, let’s take a look at two examples. Both posters are quite different, both with their own properties. On the next page, drag and drop the different properties to the corresponding poster. 

Phase 1 - Design of the poster

Many different colours

Image in the background

Calm colourpallet

Aligned text blocks

Clear figures

Long pieces of text

We prefer one of the two posters based on the design and how it comes across.

Which poster do you find most appealing to look at?

1. 
2. 

Poster 2 was our preferred scientific poster. Did you choose the same one?

Both posters have blocks which contain text and a large readable title, these are important features of a scientific poster. But besides these matching features, there were many differences that made one poster superior to the other. The good answers to the drag and drop question for the features at Poster 2 are key features that belong to a good poster. We briefly explain them: 

 r.

Phase 1 - Design of the poster 

Short pieces of text

Avoid large pieces of text (i.e., don't copy and paste parts of the reports text). The message of your story should be short and clear; you want to avoid the visitor losing attention to your story in reading large chunks of text.

Clear figures

The result of your research should be clear immediately. Make the figures large enough so that they are easy to read, including the properties for figures as you have learned for, for example, your report.

Clear design

It is important that poster looks nice and that the elements do not distract from the story. To achieve this, you can think about: (1) a calm background (such as one solid colour), where the text is easy to read (no blue letters on a dark background). (2) Don't use too many different colours either, it is recommended to use several shades of the same colour. (3) Also pay attention to the alignment of the blocks around the text: make sure the lines are clean and avoid crazy staggered lines.

The following parts will help with the design of your poster. So, open the software you chose and start designing along with the rest of the course!

Phase 1 - Design of the poster

De size of the poster needs to be large enough to ensure readable text and figures when looking at the poster from some distance. Wat size of poster do you think can be used best?

Hint

Imagine that A3 is the size of two regular A4-papers, A2 is the size of 2x an A3 and so on...

1. A0
2. A1
3. A2
4. A3

The right anwer is (a) A0, which is 118,9 cm high and 81,1 cm wide, quite large!

You can deside on you own whether you want a landscape or portrait orientation of the poster, depending on what fits best with the elements on your poster!

Phase 1 - Size of the poster

How to implement this in Powerpoint

Choose the tab "design" and then "Slide size", which can be set to the  "Custum size" of A0. 

Using the right letter font to design a readable poster is important. What font of the options below do you think we advise to avoid?

1. 
2. 
3. 

The correct answer is (b) Amaris MT Pro. Amaris MT Pro is an example of a serif typeface. Serif typeface is a typeface with extra fringes, also called “shoulders” and “feet”. This gives the letters a less boring appearance, but also makes them less readable and therefore less suitable for a poster. Try to use the same font throughout the poster. This looks a lot neater and more professional.

Besides the right font, the font size also affects readability. A handy font size for the text in the blocks is 28, for the headings 40 and for the title 72. These are guidelines to apply, but if you want larger letters for your poster, you can of course do so!

Phase 1 - Letterfont & size

To make your poster stand out and not look boring, colour is added to the poster. Several elements require a choice of colour, for example, the background, the blocks around the text and the text itself. 

Which of the options below do you deem the most appropriate version for a scientific poster? 

Fase 1 - Colour palette

Which of the options below do you deem the most appropriate version for a scientific poster?

1. 
2. 
3. 

We would choose option (c). A light background often works well on a scientific poster. With a light background, text with a dark colour stands out and creates a clear contrast that makes the text easy to read. The other way around (dark background with light letters) also has a lot of contrast, of course, but may end up being less pleasant to read from a distance.

Fase 1 - Kleurenpallet

With the poster, you will explain your research. Therefore, the poster will include the parts you will recognise from your research. 

Phase 2 - Content of the poster

Which of the following components is not placed on an scientific poster

Method

Resultats

Titel

Introduction / background

Discussion & Conclusion

Author and institution

All those parts do indeed end up on the poster, that’s a lot! 

This emphasises again how important it is to start working on the text in a short and concise manner later, otherwise it is not going to fit and be readable at the same time.

Phase 2 - Content of the poster 

Now that you know how to divide the different sections on your poster, it is important to look at the content of these blocks. 

Phase 2 - Content of the poster

With the method, you explain the steps taken within the study. There are several ways to do this.

Which option would you choose for the poster?

Phase 2 - Method

(a) "A short version of the method" 

First, the materials were collected and weighed. Then, for each different candy, with the flavours: strawberry, banana, pear, red fruit and pineapple, a separate cup was taken, into which 100 ml of water was added. Three candies of the same flavour were added to each cup. This mixture was stirred for a minute and then left to stand for 15 minutes. The candies were removed from the water and weighed again. The measured values were noted as total remaining weight per flavour. The entire experiment was repeated three times.

(b) "A flowchart"

Which option would you choose for the poster?

An extensive version of the method

A flowchart

A short version of the method

We would choose the option of a flow chart. If you type out the method in words, it can quickly become a long piece of text, even though you want to keep it as concise as possible. We want to always avoid large chunks of text for a poster. Therefore, a scientific poster often uses a flow chart, as shown in option (b).

 

Phase 2 - Method

Difficult to implement for your method?

Again, try to think of clean and logical lines, not too many blocks and not too much text in the blocks. If this doesn't work for your method, try typing a concise version of your method in text! Using an enumeration can help here.

Results present the outcome of the research. On a poster, this is best done with a graph or tables. This way, you give a clear picture of your results in an objective way that visitors can interpret immediately.

Some good features of graphs and tables are:

- Correct (axis) titles with magnitudes and units

- Axes divided into equal steps

- Clearly readable

 

Phase 2 - Results

Of the figures below, please indicate whether you like or dislike them. Think about which of the mentioned characteristics you use to argue your choice.

Phase 2 - Results

Answer (open to check your own arguments)

We think that this is bad graph. There are no axis titles used and that makes it impossible to see at once what the graph expresses.

Of the figures below, please indicate whether you like or dislike them. Think about which of the mentioned characteristics you use to argue your choice.

Phase 2 - Results

Answer (open to check your own arguments)

We consider this as a good table. It contains all the right data, and it is immediately clear which concept is linked to which value. 

Of the figures below, please indicate whether you like or dislike them. Think about which of the mentioned characteristics you use to argue your choice.

Phase 2 - Results

Answer (open to check your own arguments)

We would like to use such a graph. All the correct features are visible in it: axistitels, clear data and properly readable.

Phase 2 - Results

Important to remember

A graph or table also quickly draws the attention of a visitor who's looking at your poster. Therefore, try to place it centrally on the poster and do not use too many different graphics or figures. Choose the most important data you want to convey to the visitor so that the whole poster remains clear. 

In the conclusion, you briefly summarise the results and answer the research question, try to do this in a few concrete sentences. It is important to look at the results objectively and answer your research question based on the results.

You can also include some discussion points of your research in your conclusion. Usually, this is succinctly added to the conclusion and a whole new block for discussion is not created. It is not the intention to create a large amount of text in which you discuss your research.

Phase 2 - Conclusion (& Discussion)

Difficult?

Still unsure what to put in the discussion and conclusion? Then try out our (Dutch) e-learning on these sections here. 

As with a report, it is also important on a poster to neatly refer to used sources and avoid plagiarism. This applies to the information in the text that appears on the poster, but also to the images used.

At the bottom of the poster, in a very small font, the sources are placed. A laundry list of sources is not very useful on the poster, so do try to use your own words and images as much as possible!

Phase 2 - References

That was a long crash course, covering a lot of information! To end this course with a clear picture of the scientific poster, we'll quickly summarise the discussed subjects. 

Recap

There are several programmes to create the poster with. The completely free variant is the well-known Microsoft PowerPoint. However, we also advise taking a look at the available templates in Canva.

We have examined several features that suit a good poster:

Recap - Phase 1 Design of the poster

Clear design

By applying (1) a calm colour palette, (2) dark-light contrast for the background and letters, (3) readable font and size

Short pieces of text

We cannot mention it often enough, but short and clear is the key to a good poster. Don't let visitors get distracted by reading chunks of text.

Clear figures (and placement)

Figures attract a lot of attention on a poster. Therefore, choose these deliberately, where they directly convey the message of your result.

The elements on the scientific poster are the title, authors, introduction, method, results, discussion and conclusion (just like your research). 

Recap - Phase 2 Content of the poster

Title

The title is large and clear at the top across the entire width of the poster. This shows immediately what your poster is about.

Authors & institution

The authors and institution (for example your school) are listed, slightly smaller, below the title.

Below that are the other sections, these are distributed across the blocks in two or three columns on the poster. Here you should bear in mind that the visitors on your poster will read from top to bottom and left to right (i.e., introduction at the top left and conclusion at the bottom right).

Recap - Phase 2 Content of the poster

Introduction

The introduction briefly names the reason for your research and the research question.

Method

The method mentions steps you took in the research. A flow chart or step-by-step plan can help show this concisely and clearly.

Results

The results tell the outcome of your research. Here, use a graph or table to give the visitor an immediate idea of the result. A figure like this often attracts the visitor's attention, so place it deliberately and make sure the visitor understands it well.

References

As with the research itself, don't forget to list the sources for the information you have incorporated neatly at the bottom on the poster. This can be in a small font, so that it does not take up too much space.

Conclusion

Conclude what comes out of your research by answering your research question in one or two sentences based on the results.

More information

For more information on the content of the sections on the poster, please refer to one of our other (Dutch) e-learnings such as: "Discussie & Conclusie"

The poster is best presented with a short pitch presentation, where you enthuse the visitor about your research. Make sure to use the poster as a tool to tell your story in an attractive manner!

Recap - Phase 3 Poster presentation

E-learning Pitchen

Also, look at the (Dutch) e-learning "pichten" in which you learn how to have a short and powerful presentation. This ties in well with the e-learning we just went through!

What did your learn? Write down as much as you can!

What do you think of this e-learning?

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Thanks!  

  

Thank you very much for following this e-learning and good luck with the final steps for the scientific poster and giving the presentation!