Got a science fair coming up? Presenting at a research symposium soon? This article will help you navigate through the process of communicating research.
Student interested in submitting research to science fairs can check out the MehtA+ Science & Engineering Mentorship program.
Below are the four main steps to creating and presenting a research poster, so that you are prepared for whatever event is coming up.
1. Understand What You Are Researching
Whether you are doing a literature review or original research, you should always first understand your topic and why your topic matters in the real world. Find out what questions you are answering, if the problem matters, what you discovered, and what the main takeaway is.
Find out if you want to do literature review research, which is basically research on data that has already been collected, or original research. Find out if the research competition or symposium that you applied for takes literature review or original research, or even both.
By doing this, you are ready for the next phase of creating a poster.
2. Choose the Right Poster Layout
Make sure your title is clear and specific, and avoid overly long titles. Make sure that your title perfectly matches your project and matches your hypothesis. Below are the standard sections your poster should include:
- Introduction/Background: Explain the scientific context and why the research matters.
- Research Question/Hypothesis: Clearly state what you investigated. For your hypothesis, include an if/then statement or something similar.
- Procedure/Methodology: Explain your experimental design, all variables, list all constants, and use diagrams/images when possible. If you are making a literature review paper, explain how the research was conducted by the people you researched.
- Results: List all results that support or go against your hypothesis. Include graphs and charts that accurately represent your data.
- Conclusion/Discussion/Limitations: Summarize your findings and explain your real-world impact. Explain how your data could be limited, and the next step to experimenting, or how you can apply this information.
- Bibliography/Acknowledgments: Clearly cite all sources used in APA format.
If AI was used in any part of the creation of your project or in research, be sure to explicitly state that on your poster. Do not put your name on your poster unless otherwise instructed to.
3. Designing Your Poster
There are many different ways to style and design your poster. The standard size for a normal research poster is 36×48, but smaller posters are also alright. Decide if you want to use a tri-fold or a normal poster board:
- Tri-folds are good for intermediate science fairs and competitions because they are self-standing and help organize information into clear sections.
- Normal poster boards are good for formal presentations, conferences, or symposiums. They can also be used for a “more professional” looking science fair poster — just make sure to buy a poster stand as well.
Next, decide if you want to print all information onto one large piece of paper for your board, or use separate sheets of paper for each section. Printing out all your information onto one large printed poster makes your board look more professional and cohesive, while using separate sheets of paper for each section is often more affordable, easier to edit, and allows you to replace individual sections if you need to make changes. If you are printing out one whole piece of paper, make sure you do it multiple days in advance of your event, because printing places frequently run out of paper.
Furthermore, use many visuals, graphs, photos, and design sketches for your research poster. Don’t put big paragraphs of text; organize information into bullet points and visuals — judges like this. Make graphs easy to interpret and read, label all charts, and choose the font and font sizes appropriate for your poster’s readability and professionalism.
4. Preparing Your Presentation
First in your presentation, explain your pitch. Your pitch can either be a question or a statement, and it should lead into your summary of your project. In your summary, explain each part of your project, starting from your introduction to your conclusion. It should also include why you chose your topic, what you discovered, and why it matters.
Moreover, you will also need to prepare to answer the judges’ questions. Be prepared to answer questions such as:
- Why you chose the topic
- The biggest challenge of the topic
- What you would change if you repeated the experiment
- How the research could be expanded to the next step
Judges also like to ask technical questions about your project, so be sure to know every part of your project. If there is something that you don’t understand, be sure to thoroughly research it.
Make sure to not use notecards unless it is directly specified by your event that you are allowed to. Remember to be honest, always explain your reasoning, and there is no need to memorize every sentence.
Good luck!
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Written by Varad K, MehtA+ Intern & Science Fair Winner