Conferences

How To Prepare a Research Poster

What is a Research Poster?

A research poster is like a short story (or haiku) of your abstract. It should summarize information or research concisely and attractively to help publicize it and generate discussion. Typically a poster is a mixture of a brief text mixed with tables, graphs, pictures, and other presentation formats. At the ASMS annual conference, each poster is assigned a day (Mon, Tues, Wed, or Thurs) and during the poster session (10:30 am - 2:30 pm) the presenting author stands by their poster and 'presents'. ASMS has devised shifts for poster presenters within the full poster session which are described on the Presenter Guidelines page.

Key Points for a Well-Designed Poster

Important information should be readable from 8-10 feet away
Title is short and draws interest
Text is clear and to the point
Use of bullets, numbering, and headlines to make reading easy
Effective use of graphics, color, and fonts
Consistent and clean layout
Includes acknowledgments, your name and institutional affiliation

Sample of well-designed poster

Image credit: Poster Session Tips by mousejockey@psu.edu, via Penn State

Sample of a poorly-designed poster

Resources & Inspiration for Your ASMS Poster

These resources may give you a fresh perspective on designing you poster.

How to design an award winning poster by Dr. Tullio Rossi founder of Animate Your Science

How to create a better research poster in less time a viral YouTube video by Mike Morrison.