Poster Guidelines

A Poster Presentation is one of the popular modes of communicating scientific results at conferences. They are becoming more and more popular because time allotments for oral presentations are becoming shorter and many presenters feel there is not enough time to introduce the topic, yet alone the results. Poster presentation sessions are typically a few hours in length and thus give the presenter an opportunity to go into more detail with those interested. This format also allows conference attendees to skip a presentation they have little interest in.

You will create a poster for presentation at the CIS Spring Industrial Associates Meeting. Posters will be on display for the entire day, but you will stand by yours and answer questions for just the Poster Session part of the meeting. (Since your oral presentation will be before the poster session, the poster session is a good way to go into more detail with those interested.) Posters will be hung on a poster frame at the meeting.

There will be cash prizes for the best all around poster, and the best medical imaging related poster. Only posters of 1051-503 students are eligible. Neither of these prizes is based on just the poster quality. They are based on you understanding of the science, the quality of your results, your interpretation of the results, and your presentation of the results. Posters will be judged by an independent panel of scientists.

  1. The poster will be mounted vertically (portrait orientation). The maximum size your poster can be is 36" wide by 48" long. The minimum should not be smaller than ~32" by ~40".

  2. Posters can be laminated, or not. The center will contribute up to $100 for lamination or other poster preparation expenses.

  3. The center has several large format printers. See either a lab coordinator ore one of the system administrators for details such as access, computers with drivers, and other idiosyncrasies.

  4. Give the paper title and list all authors at the top of the display. A 36 point size is recommended for the title and 25 point size for the authors.

  5. The remainder of the poster should be neat and in point size 18 or larger. Visuals should include: 1) a brief introduction, 2) experimental detail (if novel), 3) results, and 4) conclusions.

  6. Graphs, charts, photographs, optical micro graphs, etc., should be a minimum of 5" by 8", with 25 point size titles and 18 point size captions. Dimensions and magnifications should be clearly labeled.

  7. As a rule-of-thumb, the entire poster should be legible from 6 to 10 feet away.

  8. Results which will not fit on the board can be carried in a three ring binder and shown to the interested viewer on a case by case basis.

  9. There are many good posters hanging around the building. Please see me for a list of the good ones.

Please Note...

  1. The center will only pay for one lamination of your poster. If you find a mistake after the first lamination, you pay for the second.

  2. The Hub and Kinkos provide lamination services. Their costs and turn around times vary. Plan ahead.

  3. The due date for the poster is firm. Plan ahead.

  4. Exceeding the maximum size or disregarding the orientation restriction for your poster will result in the poster being ineligible for the poster prizes, a failing grade on the poster, and the possibility of the poster not being presented at the meeting.