This page includes the following information:
Presentation Acceptance
Presentations are accepted in all areas of science and engineering. Use the drop-down box in the abstract submission to appropriately categorize your presentation.
Completed abstracts will receive approval for presentation no later than two weeks after their abstract submission date. An email will be sent to the registrant of the approval or rejection of the abstract. If an abstract is rejected for some reason, monies paid for registration fees will be refunded. Presentations are accepted as space permits, so register and submit your abstract early.
Judging
Student presenters exhibit their research to be evaluated by preeminent career scientists and engineers. The judges are career researchers that work in academia, industry and government.
Having an abstract accepted for presentation at the Sigma Xi Student Research Conference is an honor. The presentation of student research through a poster and responses to questions by judges will be evaluated against standards common to undergraduate scientific conferences. Judges will provide feedback based on a number of criteria. A sample judging sheet may be viewed for more information.
Judging Categories: Anthropology, Agriculture, Soil & Natural Resources; Cell Biology & Biochemistry; Chemistry; Ecology & Evolutionary Biology; Engineering; Environmental Science; Geo-Sciences; Human Behavioral & Social Sciences; Interdisciplinary Research, Math & Computer Science; Microbiology & Molecular Biology; Physics & Astronomy; Physiology & Immunology.
There are four levels of recognition given to poster presentations:
- Fair - An attempt has been made to meet the standards of a scientific presentation, but has not met the requirements expected for a conference at this level.
- Good - The basic level of research and presentation for a conference at this level.
- Excellent - Exceeds the basic level of research and presentation for a conference at this level.
- Superior - Exceeds the basic level of research and presentation to an exemplary degree; one of the best in the conference in the subject area.
Guidelines for Oral Presentations
An oral presentation provides a chance for students to develop effective science communication skills by presenting their research to a group of scientists, engineers, and their peers. Each presentation will be 10 minutes.
A good oral presentation will:
- summarize your research succinctly: stating your thesis, argument, purpose, and research methods
- provide a clear, visual presentation of your research results
- point out any conclusions you have reached
- explain the larger significance of your research for your field
Best Practices:
- As with poster presentations, students are required to submit an abstract.
- Keep visuals clear and simple.
- Organize your slides around the points you intend to make, using on average one slide per minute.
- Graphs should be clearly labeled with the title, axes, statistical significance, and reference.
- Slide titles should have a font size of at least 36 point, and body text a font size of 24 point. Leave as much “white space” as possible to make the text easily readable.
- Consult with your advisor about the best way to present your material
Tips for Oral Presentations:
Barry Mitsch, vice president and co-founder of The Pyramid Resource Group, Inc. shares his advice on how to use technology as a tool for presentations.
Guidelines for Poster Presentations
- Posters should not exceed 36"x 24" (36 inches wide by 24 inches tall)
- Use no more than a three-panel layout
- Images should be high resolution for clarity
- Minimum font size is 40pt
- Recommended fonts: Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman
- Use bright colors for clarity
Tips for Student Poster Presentations
While the following tips are offered to student presenters, professional scientists and engineers may find them helpful as well. Look at an example of a poster presentation.
Title
- Your title should capture the major aim/conclusion of your research.
- Title font should be 96pt
Introduction
- Clearly state the problem or project and the reasons why you are studying it. This information should be contained in the first few sentences.
- Provide concise and appropriate background discussion of the problem including the significance, scope and limits of your work. Outline what has been established by citing truly pertinent literature. Do not include an overview of marginally relevant literature.
- State how your work differs from, or is related to, previously published work.
- How did other scientists' work lead to yours?
- Make the introduction one or two paragraphs in length.
Materials and Methods
- Explain why your study matters in the fastest, most concise way possible
- Use bullet points
- Use graphics/images
Results
- Summarize the data collected and the statistical analysis you used, as appropriate
- Include only relevant data, but give enough detail to adequately justify your conclusions
- Use equations, figures, and tables
- Aim for clarity and brevity.
Tables and Figures
- Use graphs rather than tables to present numerical data. Graphs allow the reader to see trends more easily. If data must be presented in table form, KEEP IT SIMPLE.
- Leave out any unnecessary details. Studies show that you have only 11 seconds to grab and retain your audience's attention. Display your important points and make them brief.
- Number tables and figures according to the order in which they appear in the text. Give each table a title. (For example: Figure 1. Species composition).
Discussion/Conclusions
- The purpose of this section is to relate your results back to the original problem you have tested.
- You should explain the significance of your research findings in relation to the other research in this area.
- Base your conclusions on evidence presented in the results section.
Literature Cited
- You may choose to provide a list of references cited in the text of the poster. An example is provided below. For more complicated citation formats, use the reference section of any of your primary journal sources. Notice the format that the journal employs and use that method.
Journal article: Author(s). Publication year. Article title. Journal title volume: pages.
Example
Smith, D.C. and J. Van Buskirk. 1995. Phenotypic design, plasticity and ecological performance in two tadpole species. American Naturalist 145:211-233.
Acknowledgements (optional)
In this section, you acknowledge and thank the individuals, departments, programs, and funding resources, which contributed to the research.
General Advice
KEEP THE TEXT BRIEF. Blocks of text should not exceed 3 paragraphs. (Most viewers will not read more than that). Present only enough data to support your conclusions, but make sure that there is sufficient information to explain the process.
Recommended font sizes for the legibility of major sections:
- Title: 96pt (to be legible at 6 feet, use 30 pt)
- Authors: 60pt
- Sub-headings: 54pt
- Body text: 40pt
- Photo captions, axes labels. graph titles, and data labels: 24pt
The poster generally should read from left to right, and top to bottom. Numbering the individual panels, or connecting them with arrows is a standard guidance system.
Leave some open space in the design. Your audience will appreciate this as it will make your presentation easier to read and understand.
Before the poster session, rehearse a brief summary of your project. Conference attendees and judges will want to hear you describe your research and poster. Don't be afraid to point out uncertainties in your work, you may be able to receive valuable feedback and helpful insight from others.
It takes time to make a great poster. TALK WITH YOUR ADVISOR as you go through this process. Make sure he/she approves of your layout and agrees that you have presented all of the important information in the best possible way.