— from the PI’s desk

Whether your poster is for an undergrad research symposium, or a professional meeting you should take it seriously. The poster you create represents you. Your best work, and your lab. The quality represents the value you find in your research project, and how much you appreciate your research supervisor’s efforts. The poster you create also sends a message to the PI about how much you value the research opportunity you’ve been given.

Most PIs want to look at a poster before it’s presented to make edits and corrections. Ideally, unless instructed otherwise, try to get your “final” draft to her at least two weeks before you need to print. Don’t be discouraged if she changes your poster—it’s her responsibility to ensure that the posters representing her research program are factually accurate, precise, and in line with her lab’s research focus.

For most students, their first poster takes at least twice as long as they estimated it would.Even if you have experience working with Powerpoint or Keynote, designing a scientific poster can present special challenges. A good time estimate for your first poster is 30 hours from when you open the design program, to when you hand your poster over to your PI for approval.

Here are a few links to check out to help you design your first poster:

• Poster design tips from The Scientist—This is probably one of the best list of tips for a great scientific poster. Be sure to check out the links at the end of the article, especially this link: Scientific Poster Design
• The Cornell University Library has many helpful links including a nice pdf presentation on Scientific Poster Design from the Cornell Center for Materials Research.
• The website Creating Effective Poster Presentations | An Effective Poster by George Hess, Kathryn Tosney and Leon Liegel has many useful tips. Be sure to visit all the sections listed on the left of the first page of the website.