Posters
Tips & Guidelines for Creating a Poster
A successful poster will pique a passerby’s curiosity. It will entice them to stop and take a look. It will explain why you undertook this particular project, what your research entailed, and who was involved. Its concise summary will not only present your results, it will tell the viewer why they are important.
Required Design Specifications
Your poster must be created in a vertical (portrait) orientation, within the dimensions of 42″h × 32″w. Your poster MUST fit within these parameters! You will be sharing a poster-board area with one other poster presenter, and you will not be able to properly display a poster with a horizontal (landscape) layout.
UROP Poster Size & Dimension Specifications
To acknowledge funding sources, you will include the Boston University and the UROP logos linked below:
BU red block logo
*Please note the placement of these logos on the size and dimension guide*
The poster display boards are a foam core surface onto which you will tack your poster. When presenters arrive to the Symposium, tacks and your name-tag will be ready for you at your poster location.
Optional Design Tips
- Try to keep elements of symmetry and balance in mind.
- All posters should include a project title, your name, your faculty mentor’s name and department, and an acknowledgment of funding sources.
- Limit your use of colors, or stick to a color theme.
- Use large, uncomplicated fonts, limit the number of different fonts used.
- Print should be legible from at least three feet away.
- Simplicity makes for better design.
You can view examples of previous UROP posters in the Symposium photos here!
Information to Include on your Poster
- A title that states the topic and overall conclusion of your work
- Your name, your mentor’s name (and department), and any other authors
- An abstract in easy to read font
- A description of research goals and methods
- A presentation of results (figure titles should be statements of conclusions)
- A summary of major conclusions (with bullet points)
- Future directions for the research
- A (short) bibliography or list of references
- Acknowledgments (citing any help you received or sources of funding)
- You may have an accompanying handout for visitors to take away
- Find more tips and tricks here.
On the day of the Symposium, be prepared to stand next to your poster for one hour. UROP will assign your presentation time for either 11 AM – 12 PM or 12 PM – 1 PM. We will be our very best to accommodate requests for specific presentation times. Professional dress is recommended.
Find 2023 Powerpoint slides about Symposium Prep, Posters, Presentations, and Abstracts here: Symposium Prep.
Poster Printing
UROP will pay to print Symposium research posters for funded summer researchers. If you have participated in UROP funded summer research, you will receive information directly via email with instructions. Volunteer presenters should use the FedEx Office with the contact information below.
FedEx Office
115 Cummington Mall
Guidelines for writing your abstract
Your abstract is a short description of what you did and what you learned from your research project. It should be interesting, informative, and written for a broad audience.
