BY ACS STAFF
inChemistry • www.acs.org/undergrad February/March 2012
16
How to Design
a Scientific Poster
BY ANGELA HOFFMAN
scientific poster is not an enlarged version
of a paper. A poster summarizes your
research project and follows a standard format
for reporting scientific results.
• Know the poster board specifications.
Specifications vary widely among groups
and organizations.
• Craft your poster to tell a single story.
• The story has to be obvious and should be
clear to the reader. Eliminate jargon.
• Don’t attempt to tell the entire research
history of your project. Present only enough
data to support your conclusions and
show the originality of the work.
• Provide photos,
illustrations, and graphs where
needed to clarify the story.
All illustrations need captions and
must be referred to in the narrative.
• Use full sentences and your very best
English, and be succinct.
• It’s important to make the print large
enough to read easily from 3 feet away.
Title lettering should be about 2” to 3” tall
(5 to 7.5 cm). Subheading lettering should
be 1/2” to 1” tall (1.25 to 2.5 cm). Body
text lettering should be approximately
24 points tall (1/4” or 0.625 cm).
• Divide the poster into labeled sections
(such as Title, Authors, Introduction,
Methods, Results, and Discussion/
Conclusions).
• Use the minimum amount of
details in the Methods section. You
will be there to fill in the details.
• Always be generous with
acknowledgments.
• Use a solid pastel color for the
background. If you use a patterned
background, make sure it’s non-
distracting. Don’t be fancy!
• Proofread and get suggestions
from others, especially your advisor,
before you print.
• Copy your poster onto a flash drive
to create a backup copy of your
poster.
Angela Hoffman is a professor of chemistry at
the University of Portland in Portland, OR.
I
s the mere thought of presenting your first poster at an
ACS local, regional, or national meeting causing you to
rethink your choice of major? If so, take comfort in the fact
that you’re not alone. At the upcoming 243rd ACS National
Meeting in San Diego, CA, most of the nearly 1,200 stu-
dents who will be presenting their posters at the Undergradu-
ate Research Poster Session are first-time presenters. The whole
process is also less intimidating if you know what to expect as a
poster presenter at an ACS undergraduate poster session.
The basics
First, know the basics. Depending on the size of the poster ses-
sion, you will likely present your poster in a large hotel room or
hall filled with narrow rows of poster boards. If you are present-
ing a poster, approximately 30 minutes before the start time of
the session, you will be allowed into the assigned area to install
your poster. Authors are responsible for mounting their post-
ers before the opening of the poster session. ACS supplies the
poster numbers— which are placed in the upper corner of each
poster board by ACS staff— and the poster pins. Each poster
number corresponds with the number appearing beside a list-
ing of the poster in the program book. Your poster should be up
and ready to present no less than 15 minutes before the start of
your poster session. Immediately after the close of the session,
you are responsible for removing your poster. Even if you’re in
a rush to get someplace else, don’t leave your poster behind—
ACS does not assume responsibility for materials left beyond
those time limits.
Presentation times and rules at ACS regional meetings vary
widely, so it’s important to know what time you will be present-
ing your poster. As a rule of thumb, at ACS national meetings,
once the Undergraduate Research Poster Session begins, authors
who have been assigned even-numbered posters will present
their posters for the first hour of the poster session. Those with
odd-numbered posters present their posters for the second hour.
Make smart use of your spare time. The poster session is a great
time to network with other students who are presenting their
posters and with session visitors, so make it a point to visit other
posters during your free hour.
Exude professionalism
Making a positive first impression is important, so dress and act
professionally. Wear comfortable shoes — you may be standing
on cement during your presentation time. Show enthusiasm
about your research. You will be talking to viewers who may be
undergraduate or graduate students, faculty, members of indus-
try, or others with an interest in chemistry. Not everyone will be
familiar with your area of research, so before you begin describ-
ing your research project, find out what they know about your
research area. Then, try to adapt your presentation accordingly.
Be sure you have a solid understanding of your research.
How to Communicate
Your Research to Others
BY BRENT ZNOSKO
ou have invested months, or perhaps years, mastering
chemistry concepts and conducting your research project.
Now the final challenge is to articulately communicate your
results to others.
1. presenting your poster to
yourself and to your advisor and labmates. You should
have a solid understanding of your research and be
familiar with other related research.
2. and make sure to get your
visitors’ names.
3. Before you begin your presentation,
If they
are experts, you do not have to go into detail about the
background and introduction. If they know little about
your topic, you may want to spend more time on the
background. For example, I heard one poster presenter go
into a ton of needless detail about the background, even
though one of my papers was actually referenced on the
poster. The presenter simply didn’t realize who I was.
4.
about your poster. If visitors are interested in learning
more, they will ask you questions. With many posters in a
session, viewers do not want to get “trapped” at a poster
that they are only moderately interested in.
5. They already know
how to read!
Brent Znosko is an associate professor of chemistry at Saint Louis
University in St. Louis, MO.
ACS Poster Specifications
E
ach horizontal poster board at ACS meetings measures
4 feet high x 6 feet wide, including the frame, and all pre-
sentations must be confined to the poster board itself. Com-
puter display equipment, sound or projection equipment, free-
standing or three-
dimensional dis-
plays, demonstra-
tions/experiments,
or tables for handout
materials are not
permitted in the
poster session.
6 feet
4 feet
February/March 2012 www.acs.org/undergrad • inChemistry
17
Practice presenting a one-minute summary of your research. Ask
a friend to listen to your summary and provide feedback. You
should also be familiar with prior research done in the area.
It’s also a good idea to bring business cards to give to those
who visit your poster and to others you meet while networking.
Include your name, address, phone numbers, degree major, and
graduation date. It is also wise to include a professional objective,
such as graduate school, an internship, or an employment posi-
tion. Business cards will help you to appear more professional and
make you more memorable to those you meet.
When you offer your business card, be sure to ask your visitors
for their business cards as well. Write a note about your conversa-
tion with each person who visits your poster on the back of their
business card, and follow up by e-mail within one week after the
meeting. In the e-mail, you might thank your visitors for stopping
by your poster, answer any questions they had, or send them
more information pertaining to your poster.
If there is a point at which no one is visiting your poster,
resist the temptation to text or talk on your cell phone or talk
with nearby friends. These actions will make visitors less likely to
approach your poster. Also, be aware that some visitors may be
evaluating you for graduate school or for a professional position,
so exude professionalism at all times.
Follow up
Come equipped with a notepad and pen so that you can write
down suggestions from visitors about your poster, future direc-
tions of your research, or where to apply to graduate school. After
the end of the poster session, jot down notes of what went well
with your poster presentation and what you hope to improve
upon for the next time. Include any new ideas for additional
research or experiments relating to your research, and any unan-
swered questions you may need to discuss with your advisor.
Feel proud that you have taken the next step on your professional
pathway!
Feature Surviving Your First ACS Undergraduate Poster Presentation continued
Be Prepared for the Unexpected
ere’s a lesson you don’t want to learn the hard way —
posters have a way of getting misplaced, left behind in
cabs, buses, or cars, or lost in hotels and baggage claim areas
at airports, so having a backup copy that you can print out in
an emergency can be a lifesaver! Be prepared for the unex-
pected! Before you leave for the meeting, copy your poster
files onto a flash drive and bring it with you to the
meeting.
inChemistry • www.acs.org/undergrad February/March 2012
18
At an ACS poster session, you may be talking to undergraduate or grad-
uate students, faculty, members of industry, or others with an interest
in chemistry. Find out what they know about your research area and
adapt your presentation accordingly.
