GNEG 131H1: Honors Research

Resources for the Freshman Engineering Honors Course

The Purpose of a Poster

According the the TRB (Transportation Research Board) the goals of a posters are:

  1. Attract attention,
  2. Provide a clear overview of your work,
  3. Provide enough material to explain the research without an oral explanation, and
  4. Provide enough material to initiate discussion and questions.

Conversations

Make sure you are available for a conversation about your research. When judges are in the room, all participants should be present and should have an equal opportunity to discuss the research. Each judge, whether they come as a group or individually, will most likely have questions. They will want to know that you understand the work you did and they may want to know about how you reacted to the research experience. Be prepared for:

  • Questions about the research.
  • Questions to clarify your poster.
  • Questions about your results.
  • Questions about where the research is going next.

Tips for a Better Poster

Some general poster tips. Remember this is a specialized presentation form.

  • Don't overuse text.
  • Don't leave out citations.
  • Don't simply cut and paste from your paper or presentation.

Good images are an important part of presenting your research. Images chosen for the poster should be:

  • Clean, clear, and crisp.
  • Present information without additional text other than labels.
  • Be attractive in a manner that invites the visitor to come closer and review the poster.

All images NOT created by the posters authors MUST have appropriate attributes included. This includes photographs and instrument images taken by someone in the same research group but not a team member.