Poster Presentations

Research posters represent a common method for presenting scholarly at academic conferences and symposia. They often combine visual and textual content, such as tables, graphs, images, and citations, to convey information succinctly and engagingly with participants. This year, UO Libraries is sponsoring the printing of posters for the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Each individual poster presenter (or group) is funded to print a single poster through the UO College of Design Output Room.

Attend a Symposium Preparation Workshop

Affiliated Students of Undergraduate Research Engagement (ASURE) and the Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal (OURJ) will hold a joint workshop: "The Art of Designing an Impactful Symposium Presentation" on April 16 and 23 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the EMU Miller Room #107.

Symposium Poster Size

The poster print size for the symposium is 42” x 36” landscape or 36” x 42” portrait orientation. There can be no exception for a different size because it will not fit the poster stand or the printer paper roll.

Creating Your Poster

You may use PowerPoint* (to create a single slide), InDesign, Canva, Adobe Illustrator or any other platform to create a poster, as long as it adheres to the sizing requirement and can be saved in the file format (PDF/X) that is required for printing. *The web version of PowerPoint is not recommended for use due to difficulty converting to PDF/X.

A poster development and presentation tutorials can be found on the Undergraduate Research Symposium YouTube channel.
Pre-designed poster templates can be downloaded by clicking Access the Templates button below *these template designs are an option and you may create your own
- Template 1: Across the top should be the title of your project, your name, your mentor's name and your program or department logo. Place an introduction, your research question, and information about your methods to the left in separate boxes. In the center column, place your results. On the right, include spaces for your conclusions, references, and acknowledgements.
- Template 2: Across the top, place your title, your name, department, and mentors. To the left, place your introduction, key findings and methods. In the center, place graphic elements showing your analysis and results. On the right, place graphic elements showing your conclusions, and include acknowledgments and references.

Access the Templates

Printing Your Poster

Once the poster design is complete, it must be a exported to a PDF/X file (if designing the poster slide in PowerPoint, be sure to use a downloaded software version and not web version as it will not convert to PDF/X, click here for a list UO campus computing labs that offer downloaded PowerPoint software if you do not have access )
- ProTIP: the printing press does not offer full bleed so avoid making notations near any margins as they may be cut off
Participants should upload their poster to the College of Design Output Room for printing (standard print service, matte finish).
The Output Room team will be provided with the names of all poster presenters ahead of time, so they will expect your submission. There are very specific instructions to upload your poster, so please refer to the Submitting Jobs for Print section on the College of Design Technology Services website for step-by-step instructions.

Presenters should submit their poster to the Output Room for printing 7 or more days prior to the symposium to ensure timely printing. The Output Room team also requires for poster presenters to physically go to the Output Room facility to "release" their poster for print (after the upload process), so please allow for this in your schedule, so the printing occurs on time. Click here for Output Room hours of operation.

Recording a Poster Presentation Voiceover

For those who would like to upload their work to the YouTube Symposium channel, as well as to add to their digital portfolio or participating virtually. The recording should not be more than 10 minutes total and should only summarize the highlights of your project.

Once you complete your poster design, visit Microsoft’s “Turn your presentation into a video” for instructions on how to record a voiceover on PowerPoint.
You can also record a voiceover via Zoom.
The recording cannot be more than 100MB in size in order to upload.

Maximize Your Narration

Here are general recommendations to keep in mind for recording your presentation (whether you appear in the video, or not):

Speak slowly and clearly.
Avoid use of technical terms, known only in your field. You are appealing and engaging a wide audience. Address a general audience who may not be familiar with your academic subject area.
Practice and time your presentation before recording, to polish your timing and speaking delivery.
Use notes if you find helpful, but keep the delivery ‘natural.'
If you plan to appear in the video, which is optional, forgo reading directly from a script and look directly into the camera, as if you are presenting to a “live” audience.
Keep your background poster or slide (s) simple, avoid dense text, and incorporate figures and images from research work.

Pro Tips

Within PowerPoint, there is a convenient timer feature that will show on the screen (but not in the recording itself) once you select “record,” so that you can keep time.
Save your poster file in MP4 format ONLY
Do not save as .ppsx, .wmv or any other format that may not be compatible for uploading
Entitle the file in the following naming convention, so your work can be matched to you – LastName_FirstName URS2024

Submission to YouTube and UO Scholars’ Bank Archive

All poster presenters will have the opportunity to digitally archive their work via the Undergraduate Research Symposium YouTube channel and UO Scholars’ Bank.

The symposium YouTube channel hosts an expansive collection of symposium presentations. The opportunity to upload a recording of your presentation to the YouTube channel is open to all poster presenters. This is a valuable opportunity to continue to strengthen and build on your academic/professional digital portfolio and archive your work. As part of the presentation confirmation process, presenters will be provided the option to upload and showcase their work.