The Art and Craft of the SURF Poster - SURF Symposium January 2009

I. Starting Out
II. Type Size
III. Audience
IV. Title
V. Authors
VI. Organization
VII. Wording
VIII. More Suggestions
IX. The Poster Session

PLAN AHEAD! Advice from previous SURFers: “It takes longer than you think!” First write out the text you think you need, then think of ways to condense it by making the text more concise and/or substituting images for text. It should be possible to read your poster in 5 minutes. Sketch out your design for the poster before pasting anything up. Consult with your mentor and lab partners, but make sure they understand that most of the readers will be beginner scientists.

STARTING OUT:
Use a black tri-fold display board (36" high x 48” wide, when it’s open. Folds up to 36 x 24). Ivy League Stationers (Broadway at 116th, right near Ollie’s) has them for $8.99.

Print text on white paper and then affix to a slightly larger piece of colored paper. Next, attach the paper to the tri-fold board with a glue stick, double stick tape, or spray adhesive. Some people write the text on powerpoint and then print that. Don’t make one of those huge powerpoint posters! They’re too heavy and will cause the poster board to fall over.

TYPE SIZE:
People stand a few feet away from poster, so type must be 24 points or larger. Use a font size that gets you a printed version of the sizes indicated below. If you include something that is already printed (published picture or graph) you can enlarge it on a copy machine to make it legible from a distance. Short lines (about 40 characters per line) are easier to read than longer lines. Sans serif fonts like Arial or Helvetica are best for titles and subheadings, while serif fonts like Times or Palatino look better for blocks of text.

TITLE 100 pt
Name, Lab 60
Subheadings 48 pt
Text of the poster 24 pt

2 mm wide (line on graphs should be thick)

Suggested format, from Attending Professional Meetings Successfully, Fischer & Zigmond, 1999
http://www.edc.gsph.pitt.edu/survival/attmtg.pdf

AUDIENCE:
Please aim the poster to the layman who possesses little knowledge of biology. Your work this summer has taught you an enormous amount about a specific topic in biology. Your audience does not know the information that you have aquired this summer. Make things as simple as possible. If they have questions about the specifics they will ask.

Title describes the general area of research
Regulation of absorption and ABC1-mediated efflux of cholesterol by RXR heterodimers
Use: "Possible new way to lower cholesterol"

Title in the form of a question
Impact of group psychological interventions on pregnancy rates in infertile women
Use: "Does stress hurt fertility?"

AUTHORS:
Goes after the title. Your name first, followed by the postdoc or graduate student who directed you, and finally the head of the lab. You must ask all of them before including them as "author" of the poster. After the authors, mention the department where you worked.

ORGANIZATION:
Use as little text as possible. Your audience will be first and second year undergraduates with little biology background.
Tell a single cohesive story, not necessarily everything you did. Emphasize graphics.
Abstract.....Background.....Methods.....Results......Conclusions may be appropriate, but if you have no results, you don’t have to use it.

Introduction should include the "big picture", the general problem that your question fits into. A photo/diagram of your experimental animal or system may be appropriate here. This section should end with your Question or Goal or Hypothesis.
Methods should be a lot less detailed than in your research paper. Consider using a flowchart or illustrations of your equipment. Results may be shown in tables, figures, photos, but do include text that summarizes the main results.
Conclusions: Finish with one or more clearly phrased conclusions, the “take-home lesson.” This should be the answer to your Question, so that the reader could go directly from there to here and get the essence of the poster in one minute.

WORDING:
Emulate Ernest Hemingway, known for his succinct prose. He once boasted that he could write an entire short story in just six words, and then sat down and did it: "For sale. Baby shoes. Never used." Write simply and directly. Write a first version of the text, then edit it to omit all of the unnecessary words. Then edit it again. Include just the highlights. Bring your research paper to the poster session if you think you’ll need to look up details. Most visitors are first and second year undergrads that will spend only a few minutes at your poster. Make sure that they can grasp the main idea quickly.

 More Suggestions:
1. Make use of appropriate spacing, underlining, italics, bold, and indenting to avoid the boring appearance of lots of text.
2. Express information in telegraphic, outline form, to avoid long passages of text:
Instead of: ATM has been determined to function as a tumor suppressor. It plays a role in the apoptotic mechanism of the cell. Other studies have examined the gene ATM and determined that it plays a role in a certain type of cancer. This cancer leads to a degeneration of the cerebellum, and thus a loss of fine motor coordination. Can be written telegraphically:
The ATM gene plays a role in

3. See the tutorial on poster-making at http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/PostersHome.html

BEFORE THE POSTER SESSION:
Check your email every day for updates as to the specifics of the poster session.

DURING THE POSTER SESSION:
-After the brief talks about selected projects from the SURF program from 11-12pm, the poster session will be held from 12- 2pm.You must stand next to your poster from 12-2pm .
-What to wear? Just look nice. “Dress down Friday” type clothes are fine, but if you like wearing a tie or silk blouse, feel free to do so. Wear your name tag so that people can ask you about your poster.
-Many people will find it easier to understand an oral explanation than to read your poster, especially when they're in a crowded, noisy room. Prepare a 3 minute summary beforehand (Time yourself!!!) and when someone approaches, say, "Would you like me to talk you through this?" Give them your 3-minute spiel, and if they want to know more, they’ll ask. Most of the audience will be undergraduates who know much less than you, so be sure to speak at their level. Stay near your poster during the allotted time, and keep an eye out for visitors when you wander away.

AFTER THE POSTER SESSION:
We need to remove the posters at 2pm, when the custodial staff will begin cleaning up. You can save yours for the future.