Posters & Presentations

Table o' Contents:

spreadsheet: VDS Presentations/Posters

VDS Posters:

Google Folder for VDS Posters

YEAR:

2025

Posters - Google Drive folder

Video: Raina & Mahitha: https://youtu.be/Wju5rxD0im4

2024

Madison Vu - dissertation on TexasScholarWorks site: https://hdl.handle.net/2152/125406

VDSers - all posters and presentations coming out of the stream should be reviewed by the Posters/Presentations mentor first and then by Dr. B for review before submitting to a conference or other venue.

Enter Your Poster Info onto the Spreadsheet:

and enter the basic info (less the abstract) into this spreadsheet: VDS Presentations/Posters sheet as comments (see below for display of sheet):

Then work on your poster and - please email the poster draft to the Poster Mentor

Enter Your Abstract Info here for review:

fill out the Title, Author List, and Abstract info on this doc: Abstracts&Titles&AuthorListsforAll-VDS_PosterDrafts
have Dr. B or the posters mentor review it. Shoot him an email with the link (just copy this one above)
Once approved, then you can submit your abstract for the conference.
- Instructions for writing a good abstract (specific to TAS - but check specific conference requirements if doing another one)
  - VDS specific notes (TBD - Dr. B)

Work on your poster or slides:

BioRender

for some cool visuals: https://www.biorender.com/ (UT has a site license for students faculty to use for free)
'flow charts' from bio render are great to replace a bunch of words for the material / methods sections. Usually helps to have some 'helper' words on the flow chart too though.
reminder that all icons, templates, and assets from the BioRender library are considered "BioRender Content". Even when you use them in your own figures, BioRender retains ownership of these elements—and proper citation is required when it appears in any published work. BioRender Figure Citation Guidance,

Better Poster

How to create a better research poster in less time (#betterposter Generation 2). (YouTube video ~ with recommendations for simplified design for more impact and less words)

NOTE: use light-colored designs in your posters to minimize ink usage AND reduce when the print head marks show up on your poster!

Upload your FINAL poster to the Posters folder:

Posters (Google Drive folder)

Guidance for Making Posters

- also you are encouraged to record your self practicing your presentation to send to Dr. B to get feedback.

- here are some audio files of poster walk throughs from ASBMB 2020 that you can use to get an idea of what a poster 'flow' sounds like:

Stream Poster from 2022: VDS_VirtualCures_StreamPosterSpringForum2022.pdf

Poster&Presentation Resources (guidelines, suggestions) - see below the table on this page

GuidelinesForPresentations(technical, journal club, research) - Separate Google Doc

Conferences that you may be interested in presenting at:

Undergraduate Research Opportunities, Grants, & Conferences

Poster Mentor

review abstract drafts and approve
review poster before final submission
fill in the VDS Presentations/Posters spreadsheet for each presentation that VDSers do

VDS Presentations/Posters spreadsheet (shown below)

VDS Presentations/Posters

Guidelines

GuidelinesForPresentations(technical, journal club, research) - Separate Google Doc

- For examples, see the prior years' posters in the VDS Google Drive or on the right hand side menu of this page.
- You can use these as templates - but develop your own content.
- All VDS Posters & Presentations should be checked before submitting:

1. get it checed by a mentor (ask Dr. B which mentor is the ''Posters & Presentations Mentor"

2. then get it checked by Dr. B

Tips for Posters

Minimize text vs figures and diagrams and flow charts

Reduce word count if you can. Convert paragraphs to bullet points.

Use phrases instead of full sentences

Emphasize RESULTS and FIGURES

Keep tables simple (exculde extra column/ rows when you can - do you really need ALL of the subscores in your virtual screening table?)

Italicize Genus and species name. Lower case the species name.

- e.g. Trypanosoma brucei NOT: trypanosoma Brucei

Abstract 'should' match what you submitted for the conference/forum. (i.e. should not be materially changed. Small changes ok.)

Color code name of drug when shown in 2 different places (e.g. in a docking table and then in a figure caption)

AFFILIATIONS & LOGOS

Include the Virtual Cures logo (optionally include the 'VDS' letters as amino acids logo) and/or the QR code to the VDS site for FRI

in our Google Drive/Posters/Logo folder

Include name and logo of the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) on your poster

for Dr. B's Department - it would be Freshman Research Initiative

for your department - put the Department for your major

Include the name of the College of Natural Sciences in the affiliations

- optionally include CNS logo

Include the name of The University of Texas at Austin in the affiliations

- optionally include the UT Logo

Be SURE to include YOUR name in the filenames of any documents and the Conference name e.g. JoshBeckham_Pf6PGDH_ASBMB2020.pdf

- do this for any audio files too.

AUTHORS

Include Dr. Beckham and your project Team mates if you substantially worked together.

For the Undergraduate Research Forum posters in Spring at UT Austin - you CAN include Dr. Fast (since he is stream PI for ARI and FRI projects - but technically not ELI fall)

For other posters (not the Forum -i.e. ASBMB, SACNAS, RICE, ABRCMS, etc) - only include Dr. Fast if he has been involved in the poster/reviewing/research directly. Ask Dr. B.

Some projects qualify as Fast project but not all.

for Dr. Fast check Dr. Fast's association in the UT Directory - need: College and Department
do NOT include Dr. Robertus (he used to be the PI but is retired now)

You may include mentors or other students who significantly helped contribute (optional)

TEMPLATES

See prior posters here in our Google Drive/PostersS folder

When your poster is complete - please upload a copy to our Posters folder. - Thanks, Dr. B

TIPS FOR VIRTUAL IMAGES/DATA

Whole protein (simple and pretty)
VALIDATION DOCK: zoom in of active site: show an overlay of original X-ray ligand (a positive control) and that same ligand redocked with from your virtual screening program (e.g. GOLD or ICM)
- purpose: this shows your audience that the program is able to position the known ligand well when docking
Show a BRENDA Reaction diagram of your enzymes reaction (best to show this below the image of the whole protein and have arrows to where the ligands go in the active site)
Show some of your ligands as 2-D images (e.g. from PubChem site or Chembridge) as well as the 3-D rendering - this helps the audience see what atoms are present (get from PubChem)
For active site images, zoom in and show KEY residues (amino acids) as sticks and label them
- key ones are ones that have polar contacts or other bindng interactions (e.g. hydrophobic) wtih the ligand. It is nice to show the DIFFERENCES or SIMILARITIES between your x-ray ligand key residues and your virtual screening docked ligand's key residues. compare/contrast.
Best docked ligand from libraries
Poseview of original ligand
Poseview of best docked ligand

Docking Tables

Definitely for controls
Truncate to show only the necessary info, color code as helpful
Maybe show top 1-2 from each library in docking table.
But also for For libraries - show box plots of all scores from Run 1 for several libraries

RESULTS

above each image can put a statement of result - what is the take home point for that image?
or have a separate box of results paragraphs

TIPS VIDEO

This video give some great tips and info on the poster presentation process for conferences.

Discusses conferences, abstract submission, expectations, and at 12:02 it begins outlining an actual poster template.

https://youtu.be/1RwJbhkCA58

Printing

CNS ExL printing (for FRI students)

Printing Posters on Fabric!

Spoonflower fabric posters - cheap $30-35 but must order 10 days in advance

https://support.spoonflower.com/hc/en-us/articles/204266984-Tutorial-Creating-a-Fabric-Presentation-Poster-from-a-PDF
these instructions are not super helpful, so try these below.

NOTE: one dimension can only be 36 inches max. So, design your poster that way or you can scale it down in Spoonflower once you make it.

Getting the Right Resolution File is a little Tricky.:

3/16/25 - what worked for Dr. B. (the resolution problem seems to be more solvable on a Mac vs a PC).

In Power Point >> Slide Size >> set your size in inches (e.g. 40 x 40, or 42 x40 , etc)

On a Mac, in Powerpoint, save your poster as a PDF
In Finder, right click 'Open With' to open the file in 'Preview'
- you may have to find Preview in the list of Apps/Utilities (Save As >> Other)
- alternatively, open Preview by itself and go find the file
In Preview >> File >> Export
- Format >> PNG
- Resolution >> 150 pixels/inch (this options shows after you select 'PNG' above)
- Save to your desktop or folder or somewhere
Go to Spoonflower to upload
- create an account
- in the top right under the icon of a person (for your account), click Design Library >> Add Design
Upload the PNG file from your computer
Under 'Edit Products' >> View 'Fabric'
- the file dimensions shown here should reflect the size of your poster in inches. If not, you need to make a bigger resolution file. (maybe using some of the tricks below)
- If dimensions are correct, select 'Edit' for this Fabric option.
- Then click on Center
- At bottom left, change the Preview Fabric to be "56 inch" - you should see 'Sport Pique" listed in the 56 inch section.
- We recommend 2 inches of clearance from the edges. (so max dimensions of your poster could be 54x32 - or 32x54)
- NOTE: IF the image of your poster is getting cut-off in the Spoonflower designer, the go BACK to Powerpoint and change the Size to be 2 inches greater in each dimension
  - Sport Pique is only 36 inches in once dimensions for one of the lengths
    - - so, suggested to design your poster to only have 36 on one side.
Save
You will be redirected back to the design page. Choose the Buy button underneath the fabric thumbnail to be able to add your design to your cart.
Choose Sport Pique from the drop down and Yard as the size. Choose Add to Cart. Order it and it should arrive in 5-10 days.