Poster Presentation

All poster presentations must be a maximum of 6 minutes long. A 4-minute Q&A portion will follow the presentation.

1. The hook - What a speaker uses at the beginning of a presentation to engage the audience and capture their interest in the presentation topic

2. Introduction and background - Explicitly identifies the research topic and contextualizes and describes the research agenda with reference to the existing body of knowledge and published literature on the topic

3. Problem and research focus - Explains your research agenda, clearly states what question(s) you are addressing or problems you are trying to solve, and elaborates on the main focus of your research

4. Methodology - Defines how you attempt to solve the problem

5. Results - Summarizes the most notable findings as well as those that answer your main research question

6. Concluding discussion - Explicitly state why your work is important

It is highly recommended that you use PowerPoint to set up your poster. 

On PowerPoint: 

• In the Design tab, look to the far right and click on Slide Size, then Custom Slide Size to adjust to your desired dimensions.

• You can change the Layout of the slide to Blank and then begin placing text boxes to create your format. In the Insert tab, click on Text Box. Click and drag the mouse on the slide to create the text box.

• You can import media (images, charts, and icons) by clicking on the Insert tab and then Pictures. Browse to the location on your computer to find the file. You can also drag and drop media directly onto the slide.

Specific Dimensions:

• The recommended size is 36 inches (height) by 48 inches (width) in Landscape orientation

• Title: Use at least 70 pt. font

• Authors and Affiliations: Use at least 50 pt. font

• Headings: Use at least 40 pt. font

  • Any text under the headings should be at least 24 pt. font.

  • Include:

    • Introduction

    • Objectives and Hypotheses

    • Methods

    • Results

    • Conclusions or Discussion

    • Acknowledgements

For the final poster, please check that you have included:

• The UNLV logo

• Your name and mentor’s name

• Funding acknowledgment (if applicable)

Delivery Tips

• Denison Technically Speaking

• Speak at a normal pace and project your voice 

• Maintain a good body posture

• Use regular eye contact and natural gestures

• Avoid jargon-laden language

• Present in a natural manner, using a conversational tone

• Pronounce! Enunciate! Articulate!

• Practice, practice, practice…

How to handle questions from the audience and judges:

• Questions can be nerve-racking, however, an engaging presentation should encourage discussion and follow-up questions. 

• Listen attentively and paraphrase the question back to them if you need more clarification. 

• Spend some time when preparing beforehand to think of possible questions that would be asked. 

• It is okay to not know the answer to a question! It is not okay to “fake” an answer to a question.  You can say something like... “I do not know the answer to that, but it’s a great question and I will look into it.”

If you have multiple presenters, please divide the presentation in sections where members describe their role and present their part. For instance, a four-member group may have the following division of labor:

1. Introduction to the project with the “hook”

2. Research background and methods

3. Research findings

4. Discussion and conclusions

Students are responsible for printing their own posters. However, OUR offers first-come, first-served Poster Printing Support Funding to offset research poster printing costs. All current and enrolled UNLV undergraduate students whose abstract submission has been accepted for one of OUR's upcoming triannual research symposia are eligible. The deadline to submit an application for this funding is Monday, November 20, 2023. 

All posters must be physically turned in to the Office of Undergraduate Research by Monday, November 27, 2023 at 5:00 PM. Posters submitted after this time may be accepted on a case-to-case basis. OUR is located in the Central Desert Complex, Building 1 (between Hospitality Hall and the Writing Center). 

Awardees of OUR's Poster Printing Support Funding must submit a digital file of their poster to our@unlv.edu by Monday, November 27, 2023. 

1. Poster Template

Examples: 

1. Fall 2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium Best Poster Presentation Award in Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

2. Fall 2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium Best Poster Presentation Award in Health, & Natural Sciences & Engineering