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Blog Data Visualization 12 Scientific Poster Examples [And How To Create One]

12 Scientific Poster Examples [And How To Create One]

Written by: Ivonna Cabrera Jul 02, 2023

Truth be told, scientific posters are effective at piquing interest. It’s incredible how graphics and presentation style can attract audiences.

Want to make a scientific poster but don’t know how? Well, you no longer need to be a design guru if you use Venngage’s Poster Maker .

You can speed up the process even more by using our scientific poster templates.

Before I dive right into scientific poster examples, let’s discuss what scientific posters are in the first place.

Click to jump ahead:

What is a scientific poster?

Best examples of scientific posters, how to create a scientific poster, what makes a good scientific poster.

• What you need to make a scientific poster
• What’s the purpose of a scientific or research poster?

A scientific poster is a visual presentation of research findings or scientific information shared with audiences at conferences, symposiums, and academic events. Scientific posters generally provide information on topics their authors are currently discussing.

Many scientists, researchers and medical experts use scientific posters to explain their findings in a simple and easy-to-understand format.

Of course, text isn’t the best way to show how scientific posters work.

So, I’ll let these examples do the talking.

Academic scientific poster examples

An academic scientific poster presents complicated information in a visually appealing manner.

Choosing the right poster layout is important here. Generally, sections such as an introduction, use, process, and takeaways allow students to understand a process or concept in a step-by-step method.

Here’s a great example of a scientific poster that discusses distillation:

Just so you know, some of our scientific poster templates are free to use and some require a small monthly fee. Sign up is always free, as is access to Venngage’s online drag-and-drop editor.

Often, it’s also important to separate information into categories and develop data in a clear and concise manner.

Is your scientific poster focused on environmental issues? Explore our gallery of environmental poster templates for inspiration and designs tailored to your topic.

Chemistry poster examples

Chemistry posters play a vital role in the scientific community by highlighting the importance of chemistry as a subject.

They also promote a deeper understanding of its principles and applications.

Here’s a great example:

A chemistry poster is usually organized in a logical and structured manner to effectively convey information.

Here are some common elements you can find in chemistry posters:

• Introduction

Here’s another example of a chemistry poster that displays only the abstract to hook the reader.

Lab poster examples

Lab posters are effective at sharing scientific knowledge, promoting discussion and collaboration, and disseminating research findings.

They provide a visual platform to showcase research efforts and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge in various fields of study.

In the lab poster below, the impact of overeating and binge drinking on the health of college students is presented in a format that anyone can understand the takeaway in a single glance.

Now that you know everything about scientific posters, it’s time to create your own.

Step 1 – Sign up for a free Venngage account

Start the process by  signing up  for Venngage with your email, Gmail or Facebook account.

Step 2 – Select a template from our library

Besides the examples above, you’ll find a sizeable collection of poster templates and specifically scientific posters to choose from.

There’s a template for every need, from a scientific poster for a case study review to templates focused on presenting complex data.

Step 3 – Edit your scientific poster with our editor

All our scientific poster templates can be edited using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Feel free to change the colors, text, icons, or illustrations to make the design your own or simply input your data to have an optimized scientific poster in minutes.

Step 4 – Bring your scientific poster to life with icons, illustrations and branding elements

Venngage offers 40,000 icons and illustrations to help you visualize and bring a scientific poster to life.

If you upgrade to a  Business  account, you can also enjoy  My Brand Kit  — the one-click branding kit that lets you upload your logo and apply brand colors and fonts to any design.

Step 5 – Share a link to your scientific poster or upgrade to download

Once you upgrade to a  Business  account, you can download your scientific poster as a PNG, PDF, or interactive PDF.

But you can always share your scientific poster online for free.

Searching for a tech poster template? Explore these tech poster designs for useful and innovative templates.

A good scientific poster is often an attractive and easy-to-read presentation of scientific research .

They may include images, diagrams, graphs and tables, and they often focus on one or two main points.

Combining data and design together makes it easy for readers to dissect information easily, thanks to an attention-grabbing layout, simplified language and easy-to-follow jargon explanations where necessary.

A lot of layouts allow you to prioritize information and separate it into circles or boxes, like in the template above.

This type of poster design allows the reader to consume less time when reading the full context of a situation.

What do you need to make a useful scientific poster?

This is the section you’ve been waiting for — the best way to make a scientific poster from scratch.

Read on to learn about the steps below, and they come with easy-to-follow examples, too.

Study good scientific or academic poster examples

Venngage has great scientific poster templates for your first scientific poster. You can customize these templates using Venngage’s drag-and-drop editor.

Let’s take a look at each of them below.

The sparse but surgically precise use of text here contrasts the lush use of plants to explain photosynthesis.

Short explanations can be accompanied by explainer text in corner resource boxes that discuss the other details of photosynthesis.

Good science poster examples are readable from 10 feet away

There are many reasons why posters should be readable from 10 feet away.

The main reason is to allow readers to fully understand the concept from where they stand or walk.

For example, in a school or office hall, bulletin boards are usually 5 to 10 feet away from potential viewers. A poster that can be viewed within this range entices the audience to come closer and read the details.

School posters effectively engage students by presenting visual content that reinforces learning objectives or communicates important information. Browse our collection of school poster templates for inspiration and ideas.

The second reason is to allow readers to quickly comprehend the poster.

People usually don’t have time to stop and read a poster. In a school or office, everyone’s walking to do something urgently.

Thus, you don’t want to take up too much of your time reading jargon and difficult concepts that even academic peers can take hours to read and interpret.

Being readable from 10 feet away makes it easy for readers to understand your research.

You can use varying font sizes to create great posters. For digital campaigns, make sure that your posters are suitable for modern browsers.

Venngage’s  My Brand Kit  feature allows you to create posters that help your audience understand valuable info.

This is a special tool for Business accounts that allows you to upload logos, choose fonts, and set color palettes to your scientific posters .

Use our real-time collaboration feature to invite team members and work together. You can also leave comments and get feedback instantly.

Alternatively, share your design online, on social media, or via email completely for free.

Make an attention-grabbing, short headline

Attention-grabbing headlines are easy for science articles and posters.

It’s always thrilling to find out about a new plant species or discoveries that debunk old theories.

It’s a good idea to use best practices in making attention-grabbing headlines, even if it is just casual scientific content for social media.

Titles that draw attention and engagement include:

• Trending topics Create headlines according to what is trending. For example, if your study discusses climate change , align your headline to this topic to engage readers.
• Controversial developments An old textbook fact being false is a controversial and surprising topic which you can easily sum up in a headline.
• Issues that address curiosity Humans are naturally curious, so tickling the audience’s curiosity is a great way to create a compelling and attention-grabbing headline.

Use bullets and numbering to make a list easier to read

Bullets, lists and clear language are all tools that improve readability.

Even without fancy graphics and poster backgrounds , a short-sentence, simple-worded post with bullets and lists makes it easy to understand any topic.

Bulleted lists make each subtopic of your scientific poster easy to read. Plus, it allows readers to jump from one subtopic to another without feeling like they missed information along the way.

Designers of scientific posters find it easier to design bulleted and list content because they can place every bullet in different sections, making the poster easy to read.

If you used bullets instead of boxes to explain each subtopic in this poster, you could still read it easily — just not from 10 feet away.

Ensure layout consistency

Layout consistency is the uniform appearance of elements within a design.

It is achieved by employing the same layout, color and typography throughout an entire design.

For example, if a web page uses a consistent layout, each page will be uniform in appearance but not necessarily in content.

Layout consistency is achieved by employing the same pattern, color and typography throughout an entire design. This uniform appearance helps readers navigate for better organization. 

Creating layout consistency is of crucial importance in scientific poster design because coherence creates a familiar mood and attachment for readers.

This template uses the same fonts and complementary colors that give the scientific poster its own coherent, attention-grabbing and informative personality

Related:  Stay ahead of graphic design trends that can help you with your scientific poster design!

Include acknowledgments, names and affiliations

Lastly, all scientific posters include their acknowledgments, researcher names and affiliations underneath the poster.

You can use a footnote to include these details or a resource box. Plus, if you used any links as references in your research, add them to this section.

If you were the researcher involved in this scientific poster , you could include all the information I’ve mentioned underneath the last paragraph using a line to indicate that they are acknowledgments and author information.

Searching for a research poster? Browse through our collection of research poster templates in to get started!

What is the purpose of a scientific poster?

Academics are the only ones who can read and understand a technical scientific paper.

To a normal reader, a research paper’s language and syntax are challenging. Scientific papers don’t prioritize reading flow in their outlines or exposition of data, methods and results.

But with a well-made and creative poster , reading a technical paper becomes easier.

For example, effective scientific posters include images that explain complicated terms.

At the same time, the poster layout makes data and text easy to read. Lastly, scientific posters use simple language that allows even young children to understand concepts.

FAQ about scientific posters

I know you’re all set to make your own designs, but you might want to have these questions answered too.

What should a scientific poster include?

A scientific poster should include an easy-to-follow layout, graphics and color schemes that don’t take away from the reading experience. Successful scientific posters also use short sentences, simple language and bullet points.

How do you write a good scientific poster?

Researchers must focus on the evidence behind the research. Afterward, they can concentrate on using simple language and short sentences to explain their point. Short text and simple words make it easier for graphic designers to create posters with an intuitive layout.

How do you write a scientific title for a poster?

Focus on aligning your title with human emotions and curiosity. Outside human emotions, you can align your titles toward controversial or trending issues. This article dedicates an entire section to writing a great scientific title for a poster, so you should head there to learn more!

Our  Poster Maker guarantees that you’ll make the most intuitive and well-designed scientific posters in a single session.

Make the best scientific posters within minutes today!

Now, you’re ready to make your own scientific posters for print or website use!

If you’re short on ideas, you can use Venngage’s scientific poster templates for inspiration. Besides access to scores of templates, you also get a free drag-and-drop web-based editor by signing up for a FREE Venngage account today. Register now!

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Ten Simple Rules for a Good Poster Presentation

Thomas C. Erren and Philip E. Bourne

PLoS Comput Biol 3(5): e102. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030102

Posters are a key component of communicating your science and an important element in a successful scientific career. Posters, while delivering the same high-quality science, offer a different medium from either oral presentations [1] or published papers [2], and should be treated accordingly. Posters should be considered a snapshot of your work intended to engage colleagues in a dialog about the work, or, if you are not present, to be a summary that will encourage the reader to want to learn more. Many a lifelong collaboration [3] has begun in front of a poster board. Here are ten simple rules for maximizing the return on the time-consuming process of preparing and presenting an effective poster.

Rule 1: Define the Purpose

The purpose will vary depending on the status and nature of the work being presented, as well as the intent. Some posters are designed to be used again and again; for example, those making conference attendees aware of a shared resource. Others will likely be used once at a conference and then be relegated to the wall in the laboratory. Before you start preparing the poster, ask yourself the following questions: What do you want the person passing by your poster to do? Engage in a discussion about the content? Learn enough to go off and want to try something for themselves? Want to collaborate? All the above, or none of the above but something else? Style your poster accordingly.

Rule 2: Sell Your Work in Ten Seconds

Some conferences will present hundreds of posters; you will need to fight for attention. The first impressions of your poster, and to a lesser extent what you might say when standing in front of it, are crucial. It is analogous to being in an elevator and having a few seconds to peak someone’s interest before they get off. The sad truth is that you have to sell your work. One approach is to pose your work as addressing a decisive question, which you then address as best you can. Once you have posed the question, which may well also be the motivation for the study, the focus of your poster should be on addressing that question in a clear and concise way.

Rule 3: The Title Is Important

The title is a good way to sell your work. It may be the only thing the conference attendee sees before they reach your poster. The title should make them want to come and visit. The title might pose a decisive question, define the scope of the study, or hint at a new finding. Above all, the title should be short and comprehensible to a broad audience. The title is your equivalent of a newspaper headline—short, sharp, and compelling.

Rule 4: Poster Acceptance Means Nothing

Do not take the acceptance of a poster as an endorsement of your work. Conferences need attendees to be financially viable. Many attendees who are there on grants cannot justify attending a conference unless they present. There are a small number of speaking slots compared with attendees. How to solve the dilemma? Enter posters; this way everyone can present. In other words, your poster has not been endorsed, just accepted. To get endorsement from your peers, do good science and present it well on the poster.

Rule 5: Many of the Rules for Writing a Good Paper Apply to Posters, Too

Identify your audience and provide the appropriate scope and depth of content. If the conference includes nonspecialists, cater to them. Just as the abstract of a paper needs to be a succinct summary of the motivation, hypothesis to be tested, major results, and conclusions, so does your poster.

Rule 6: Good Posters Have Unique Features Not Pertinent to Papers

The amount of material presented in a paper far outweighs what is presented on a poster. A poster requires you to distill the work, yet not lose the message or the logical flow. Posters need to be viewed from a distance, but can take advantage of your presence. Posters can be used as a distribution medium for copies of associated papers, supplementary information, and other handouts. Posters allow you to be more speculative. Often only the titles or at most the abstracts of posters can be considered published; that is, widely distributed. Mostly, they may never be seen again. There is the opportunity to say more than you would in the traditional literature, which for all intents and purposes will be part of the immutable record. Take advantage of these unique features.

Rule 7: Layout and Format Are Critical

Pop musician Keith Richards put the matter well in an interview with Der Spiegel [4]: “If you are a painter, then the most important thing is the bare canvas. A good painter will never cover all the space but will always leave some blank. My canvas is silence.” Your canvas as poster presenter is also white space. Guide the passerby’s eyes from one succinct frame to another in a logical fashion from beginning to end. Unlike the literature, which is linear by virtue of one page following another, the reader of a poster is free to wander over the pages as if they are tacked to the poster board in a random order. Guide the reader with arrows, numbering, or whatever else makes sense in getting them to move from one logical step to another. Try to do this guiding in an unusual and eye-catching way. Look for appropriate layouts in the posters of others and adopt some of their approaches. Finally, never use less than a size 24 point font, and make sure the main points can be read at eye level.

Rule 8: Content Is Important, but Keep It Concise

Everything on the poster should help convey the message. The text must conform to the norms of sound scientific reporting: clarity, precision of expression, and economy of words. The latter is particularly important for posters because of their inherent space limitations. Use of first-rate pictorial material to illustrate a poster can sometimes transform what would otherwise be a bewildering mass of complex data into a coherent and convincing story. One carefully produced chart or graph often says more than hundreds of words. Use graphics for “clear portrayal of complexity” [5], not to impress (and possibly bewilder) viewers with complex artistry. Allow a figure to be viewed in both a superficial and a detailed way. For example, a large table might have bold swaths of color indicating relative contributions from different categories, and the smaller text in the table would provide gritty details for those who want them. Likewise, a graph could provide a bold trend line (with its interpretation clearly and concisely stated), and also have many detailed points with error bars. Have a clear and obvious set of conclusions—after the abstract, this is where the passerby’s eyes will wander. Only then will they go to the results, followed by the methods.

Rule 9: Posters Should Have Your Personality

A poster is a different medium from a paper, which is conventionally dry and impersonal. Think of your poster as an extension of your personality. Use it to draw the passerby to take a closer look or to want to talk to you. Scientific collaboration often starts for reasons other than the shared scientific interest, such as a personal interest. A photo of you on the poster not only helps someone find you at the conference when you are not at the poster, it can also be used to illustrate a hobby or an interest that can open a conversation.

Rule 10: The Impact of a Poster Happens Both During and After the Poster Session

When the considerable effort of making a poster is done, do not blow it on presentation day by failing to have the poster achieve maximum impact. This requires the right presenter–audience interaction. Work to get a crowd by being engaging; one engaged viewer will attract others. Don’t badger people, let them read. Be ready with Rule 2. Work all the audience at once, do not leave visitors waiting for your attention. Make eye contact with every visitor.

Make it easy for a conference attendee to contact you afterward. Have copies of relevant papers on hand as well as copies of the poster on standard-sized paper. For work that is more mature, have the poster online and make the URL available as a handout. Have your e-mail and other demographics clearly displayed. Follow up with people who come to the poster by having a signup sheet.

The visitor is more likely to remember you than the content of your poster. Make yourself easy to remember. As the host of the work presented on the poster, be attentive, open, and curious, and self-confident but never arrogant and aggressive. Leave the visitors space and time—they can “travel” through your poster at their own discretion and pace. If a visitor asks a question, talk simply and openly about the work. This is likely your opportunity to get feedback on the work before it goes to publication. Better to be tripped up in front of your poster than by a reviewer of the manuscript.

Good posters and their presentations can improve your reputation, both within and outside your working group and institution, and may also contribute to a certain scientific freedom. Poster prizes count when peers look at your resume.

These ten rules will hopefully help you in preparing better posters. For a more humorous view on what not to do in preparing a poster, see [6], and for further information, including the opportunity to practice your German, see [7].

Acknowledgments

Thomas Erren’s contributions to this piece are based on [7] and were stimulated by exchanges with Michael Jacobsen. Thanks also to Steven E. Brenner for useful input.

• Bourne PE (2007) Ten simple rules for making good oral presentations. PLoS Comput Biol 3: e77.. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030077 .
• Bourne PE (2005) Ten simple rules for getting published. PLoS Comput Biol 1: e57.. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.0010057 .
• Vicens Q, Bourne PE (2007) Ten simple rules for a successful collaboration. PLoS Comput Biol 3: e44.. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030044 .
• (1998) Interview with Keith Richards. Meine Leinwand ist die Stille. Der Spiegel 45: 167–170. Find this article online
• Tufte ER (2001) The visual display of quantitative information. Cheshire (Connecticut): Graphics Press.
• Wolcott TG (1997) Mortal sins in poster presentations or how to give the poster no one remembers. Newsletter Soc Integr Compar Biol Fall. pp. 10–11. Available: http://www.sicb.org/newsletters/fa97nl/s​icb/poster.html . Accessed 23 April 2007.
• Erren TC (2006) Schau mich an! Ein Leitfaden zur Erstellung und Präsentation von Postern in der Medizin und den Naturwissenschaften. München/Wien/New York: W. Zuckschwerdt Verlag.

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Student posters on chemistry topics

By Michael Seery 2014-03-03T11:59:00+00:00

This post discusses the use of student generated posters and includes a video guide for students on how to prepare posters

One of the nice ways of getting students to think about chemistry, especially at introductory levels, is to have them present on something topical that can be related to their core chemistry. This can be useful for chemistry programmes with specific contexts-for example medicinal chemistry, forensic chemistry, etc. Several institutions use the idea of chemistry posters , whereby students prepare a poster on a chemistry topic and present it to their peers and staff either in person or virtually. 

In my experience of doing this, I have found that students either do well in the graphical element of poster preparation or in the inclusion of relevant and appropriate chemistry. To have both in the same poster is less common. In my institution, students are given an initial source of information, and they use this to begin to build up their poster, referring to further sources as required. I feel that this approach helps students, especially at the introductory level, to get a good start on building up the chemistry information on the poster from a reputable source.

To help with this, I prepared a video for my students on how to prepare chemistry posters. These posters differ of course from traditional research posters. They are smaller in size (we use A1), and focus on including relevant aspects of chemistry to explain a topic. But there are lessons that can be learned from this exercise that will be useful to students if they need to prepare research posters in the future. These include thinking of the core message of the presentation, considering a visual rather than text-based medium, and considering the audience of the poster. 

A video describing how to prepare a student poster in chemistry, detailing how to set up MS PowerPoint and how to plan your poster content. An accompanying guide is available at: http://michaelseery.com/downloads/PosterPrep.pdf

One of the hard jobs for us as educators is to think of poster topics. They need to be topical enough to engage students and have an appropriate theme so that they can relate to their chemistry currently being studied. I find that articles in Education in Chemistry and Chemistry World are great for this. They have some good chemistry at their core, but are of interest and relevance (to have appeared in the magazine in the first place).  I've listed out some of the ones I have compiled below. If you have any more ideas for sourcing titles, please do share in the comments section! For the more recent Education in Chemistry articles, you'll see links to the article online - many thanks to David Sait from EiC for providing these links!

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Top 10 Poster Presentation Tips

• Mar 8, 2016

So you’ve completed the research paper that will form the basis for your chemistry poster presentation. Your figures are all correctly formatted, and your citations are everywhere they need to be. Now you just need to prepare your chemistry poster presentation. Easy, right? Well, not always. 10 Keys to Giving an Effective Chemistry Poster Presentation […]

So you’ve completed the research paper that will form the basis for your chemistry poster presentation. Your figures are all correctly formatted, and your citations are everywhere they need to be. Now you just need to prepare your chemistry poster presentation. Easy, right? Well, not always.

10 Keys to Giving an Effective Chemistry Poster Presentation

Putting together a chemistry poster presentation isn’t just about reformatting your paper. Your display should be more than a printout of each page of your research paper tacked together, side by side. It is an asset for your research. It is a continuation of your hard work and therefore it is worthy of your attention and time. The way you display your research can have significant effects on your career prospects and networking opportunities.

However, the process of creating a great display to highlight your paper doesn’t have to be painful. At the American Chemical Society, we know a thing or two about effective chemistry presentations. We’ve distilled some of our best tips for creating a display that grabs attention (and communicates the value your research) into one place. Here is an infographic detailing 10 tips to creating a knockout chemistry poster presentation that accurately and successfully presents your findings in a compelling way. This free graphic will help you take your research to another level, by helping you hone your science communication skills and showcase your paper in the best possible light.

Want to hang this chemistry poster presentation tips infographic in your lab? Download and print a copy of the 11×17” infographic .

Did we leave out your favorite poster presentation tips share them in the comments, want the latest stories delivered to your inbox each month.

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Printing Posters in the Chem Dept

Available to Chemistry students, facuty, and staff, there is a large poster printer available in the Copy Center (BRWN 2105).  Due to the size of the printer, one side of your poster cannot exceed 42 inches .  You MUST allow 48 hours for your print job and you must provide an account to be billed for the service.  Contact the  Copy Center for details.

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Why Posters?

Posters are snapshots of your work and are meant to engage your colleagues in discussions about your work.  So decide on the purpose of your poster.  What do you want people passing your poster to do:

• Engage colleagues in discussion about the content?
• Go off and try things on their own?
• Form collaborations with you?
• All of the above, or something totally different?

The point is you need a purpose and it needs to be clearly visible in 10 seconds or less!

Derived from: Erren, T. C.; Bourne, P. E., Ten Simple Rules for a Good Poster Presentation . PLoS Comput Biol 2007 , 3 (5), e102. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030102

Tips for Your Poster Handout

1. Provide a shrunken version of your poster that fits on an 8.5" by 11" standard piece of paper.  Include key references and contact information.

2. Summarize key points with figures, key references and provide your contact information.

3. Pin a stack of business cards to your poster board.

During the Poster Session

• Dress professionally.
• Color coordinate with your poster.  You are part of the presentation.
• Have a 1 sentence  summary of your work and why it's important.
• Wear your name tag.
• Talk to your visitors, not your poster or a notes sheet.
• Thank your visitors
• Drink.  Alcohol may be provided, but wait until after the poster session.
• Chew gum or tobacco.  It's distracting.
• Put your hands in your pockets.
• Be vague.  Don't say "This figure shows our main results."  Say "We found that..." Fill in the ... with whatever it was that you found.
• Fake answers to questions.  People can tell.  Just say something like "That's an interesting question, but I'm not prepared to answer it at this time."

More Dos and Don'ts from Purrington, C.B. Designing conference posters . Retrieved November 21, 2011.

Guides for Creating Posters (see additional books / e-books below)

• Designing Conference Posters Links to different templates and useful Do's and Don'ts section.
• Good and Bad Posters Flickr group by Colin Parrington at Swarthmore College,

Visual Grammar of Posters

Good posters have unique features that papers don't have.  For one, they need to be viewed from a distance, but can take advantage of your presance and ability to explain content.  Format and layout are critical.  Content is also very important, but keep it concise.  Posters should have some of your personality as well.  Remember you are part of your work.  So...What are features of a good poster?  Let's consider the layout first.

This example has developed a visual grammar to that helps readers identify the most important parts of the poster.  It uses a top to bottom and left to right orientation.  Remember that English is read from top to bottom and left to right.  Follow this organization when designing your poster, if it is in English.  Your poster will seem illogical if you don't.  The name, institution and title run across the entire top.  Columns proceed from top to bottom and left to right.  This poster also used organizational cues in the form of numbers to guide readers.

Another thing to consider is balance between text, images, and white space. Contrary to sometimes popular belief, white space on a poster is OK.  Consider the following example of  layouts.

• Summarize your work in large letters.
• Part of the visual grammar that guides people through your poster.
• Should be hierarchical.  The more important the heading, the larger the font.
• Can be bold and make the strongest statements your research allows.

The following example of a poster from NC State shows good use of headings.

The above poster also makes use of graphics.  Let's consider those next. Graphs, photos, and/or illustrations are the eye catchers of your poster. 

Graphics should:

• Communicate relationships quickly.
• Be simple and clean.
• Contain their explanations within the graphic, not referenced somewhere else.
• Use color if your printing budget permits!

The differences between a good graph and a not-so-good graph are illustrated below.

The No! graph is complicated and messy.  The dark background and gridlines distract from the axes labels and number values.  The leged is too small and not part of the graph itself.  And the text is too small to read.  The Better! graph got rid of the dark background and gridlines.  It also increased the font size and changed the light yellow color to a darker color.  The different lines are clearly labeled, so there is no need for a legend and the axes lables and values are clearly visible now. 

Text should be simple, direct, and large.

A few hints about text on your poster.

• Try to minimize the amount of text on your poster.  Think of ways to use graphs or other images to represent your text.
• Keep text blocks to 50 words or less.
• Use the active voice.
• Avoid jargon.
• Left-justify your text.
• Use a serif font like Times because it's easier to read.
• A sans-serif font like Helvetica is OK for titles and headings.
• Use at least 24 point font in text and 36 for headings.

As mentioned above you should use color if your printing budget allows.  But, you should use it purposefully.

Use color to:

• Attract attention.
• Organize information.
• Emphasize information.

Some general color tips:

• Use contrast.  Dark letters on light backgrounds work well.  Light letters on dark backgrounds can be hard to read.
• Stick to a color theme of 2-3 colors.  Be consistent in their use.
• Remember that overly bright (hot pink) can tire readers' eyes, so they won't look at your poster. 
• Use a tool like ColorBrewer to find colorblind safe palettes.

Finally, when you think you've got your poster ready, present a small scale version you can print on one page at group meeting.  Then edit, edit, and edit some more. 

Derived from Hess, G.R.; Tosney, K.; and Liegel, L. Creating Effective Poster Presentations . 2010. Visited 11/21/11

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How to make effective posters

By Victoria Atkinson 2023-01-30T09:50:00+00:00

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Five tips for attracting attention to your work

‘Posters are a great way to discover new science and meet new people,’ says Luke Wilkinson , a coordination chemist at the University of York, UK. ‘These sessions are a valuable experience for everyone, from master’s students making their first foray into research, through to the seasoned academics.’ For many though, a poster presentation can be an intimidating prospect, particularly for new researchers. Here are a few suggestions you can follow to create effective posters for any platform and present them confidently.

Make it eye-catching

Posters are very visual , so your design needs to stand out and attract attention, whether that’s across a crowded room, or in a busy Twitter thread. ‘Big, interesting images draw the eye,’ says Edward Gardner , a development editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry, and one of the co-organisers of the RSC’s annual #RSCPoster event on Twitter. ‘Especially online, it’s helpful for people to get a sense of the content without having to zoom in too much.’ There is no prescribed layout, and different designs work better for different audiences and events. ‘You can be very creative with how you present the information as long as it’s easy to follow,’ says Laura Ghandhi , a deputy editor at the RSC who also co-organises #RSCPoster. ‘My number one tip would be: do not make it too word heavy. Use the minimum text that you need to make your point clear.’

Choose your content carefully

‘Posters don’t have to show complete work,’ says Wilkinson. ‘They can just show the concept and a few preliminary results. As long as you’re not sharing sensitive material, it’s never too early to present.’ Conference-goers are looking for digestible chunks of information, quickly showing what your research is hoping to achieve and how you plan on getting there. Less is more when designing a poster and it’s actually much better to focus on a few key results and tell a clear and logical story. ‘I would always include the smoking gun experiments,’ says Wilkinson. ‘The ones that definitively proved your hypothesis, or that threw a spanner in the works.’ Leaving something for people to ask can be a great ice breaker and you can provide additional information using QR codes or hyperlinks for those with a special interest. 

Tell a complete story

Presenting a poster is not just about sharing your latest results. ‘The first thing I think about when I see a poster is “Why do I care about this piece of science?”’ says Ghandhi. ‘You need to make the context of your research clear in the introduction.’ This is especially important at general events such as departmental symposia or social media conferences where many attendees will not be specialists in your research area. People are put off by impenetrable lists of results, but by starting at the beginning and guiding your audience through the background and aims of your work, you can effectively share your research with anyone. Ghandhi also emphasises the importance of a concluding section. ‘It’s really hard to get to the take home message without one,’ she says. ‘Think about the key idea you want people to remember about your poster.’ 

Consider your platform

‘One of the most important considerations is the platform,’ says Gardner. ‘How are people viewing your poster and how are they going to initially arrive at it?’ Social media is a powerful tool for sharing science and increasing numbers of events are now taking place on platforms such as YouTube or Twitter. Users on these sites are looking for engaging bitesize chunks of information, often viewed on mobile phones, meaning online poster formats need to work across multiple different devices. ‘There’s lots of advice about how to adapt your poster to different platforms,’ says Gardner. ‘For #RSCPoster, we focus on Twitter and it can be really effective to include additional features like gifs and videos, which aren’t available for traditional posters.’ The #RSCPoster event is heavily publicised to drive traffic to the relevant threads, but the team recommends using suitable hashtags or promoting your poster on other social media accounts to help direct people to your work. 

Prepare to present

Perhaps simultaneously the most valuable and most intimidating part of a poster session is presenting the poster itself. Make sure you’re happy with the work you’re presenting and take the opportunity to discuss any doubts with your supervisor. ‘It’s really important to have confidence in yourself, as well as your research, knowing you’re going to be challenged,’ says Wilkinson. ‘But most people just want to hear about your science. They’re not there to criticise you.’ Ghandhi suggests practising your elevator pitch with friends or colleagues before the event. ‘You don’t want to be just reading off your poster,’ she says. ‘Share a bit of background about your experiments and build a rapport with other researchers.’

The 2023 #RSCPoster Twitter conference starts on 28 February. Find out more and register  here

The 2023 #RSCPoster Twitter conference starts on 28 February. Find out more and register here rsc.org/events/detail/75565/2023-rscposter-twitter-conference

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Free Poster Templates for PPT

As a student, chances are high you'll need to present the results of your research in the form of a poster. This page provides several examples of templates that can help you get started.

• Colin Purrington's poster design templates Colin Purrington is a professor with directions and advice about poster design. Check out his articles "DOs and DON’Ts of poster design" and "presenting a conference poster"
• Make Designs Over three dozen free science poster templates (each with .pptx files in various dimensions)
• PosterPresentations.com Basic templates for research posters in a variety of sizes.
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What is the purpose of your poster?

Steps to preparing your poster, presenting your poster, additional resources.

• Get Help and Additional Resources

The purpose of your poster is to:

• Publicize and communicate your findings 
• Promote discussion surrounding your research
• Introduce collaborative opportunities 
•  Provide a networking opportunity

Follow the steps below to create a successful poster:

• Identify the appropriate content
• Summarize the content
• Design the layout
• Pick a template
• Add content
• Format content
• Proofread (request input from your supervisor!)

Here are some resources to help you plan, design, and create your poster.

• Research Guide: Posters and Presentations Explore this U of T research guide for lots of great tips and information on creating effective posters, including templates, suggested tools, and video tutorials.
• Where to Print Your Poster Printing tips and where to print around campus.
• ACS: How to Prepare a Scientific Poster Presentation Advice from ACS on how to survive your first undergraduate poster presentation.
• Presentation Skills Tips, workshops and resources from U of T's Academic Success Centre and U of T's School of Graduate Studies.
• Presentation Tips Compiled resources on how to give effective poster presentations, and presenting scientific information.
• Better Posters A blog providing advice on how to make posters informative and beautiful, with lots of examples and images.
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#RSCPoster is a free global online poster conference held on LinkedIn over the course of 24 hours

The event brings together the global chemistry community to  network  with colleagues across the world and at every career stage,  share  their research and  engage  in scientific debate.

We want #RSCPoster to be an inclusive event, connecting researchers from around the world to share and discuss their work. While #RSCPoster takes place on LinkedIn, we are happy for participants to cross-post their posters to engage in discussion with members of the community that use other social media platforms. Prizes will only be awarded based on participation on LinkedIn, so you must share your poster on the platform to be eligible.

About #RSCPoster

#RSCPoster has moved to LinkedIn! Follow our main RSC account and our subject category pages for updates on how to get involved and to keep up to date with our journal activities.

Subject categories

You can also find additional journals on linkedin:, explore the 2024 winners.

Competition was high with the successful launch of #RSCPoster on LinkedIn.

How it works and FAQs

Organisers, subject chairs and general committee, related events and webinars, rsc poster journal collection now available.

The RSC Poster Journal Collection showcasing research presented at the #RSCPoster conference in 2023 is now available.

Sponsors and support

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting #RSCPoster 2024.

Why not enter #RSCposter 2025?

• no registration fees
• participate from anywhere with LinkedIn access
• meet researchers from all over the world, at every career stage
• spend as little or as much time attending as you like
• cash and community prizes for the best posters as judged by our excellent Committees
• community prize for the best #RSCPosterPitch as selected by our General Committee

Browse all events

Contact the organisers.

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CHEM 23200 Organic Chemistry Spring Quarter

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Guides for Creating Scientific Poster Presentations

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• Tutorials/Guides for Databases
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Poster Presentations - Designing Effective Posters Created by Fred Stoss, University of Buffalo Library, this guide includes tips and tricks, a bibliography, and lots of links to helpful sites

Preparing scientific illustrations : a guide to better posters, presentations, and publications / Mary Helen Briscoe. Crerar, 1st Floor Reference Collection Q222.B750 1996

The craft of scientific presentations : critical steps to succeed and critical errors to avoid, 2nd ed / Michael Alley. https://link-springer-com.proxy.uchicago.edu/book/10.1007%2F978-1-4419-8279-7

Speaking about science : a manual for creating clear presentations / Scott Morgan, Barrett Whitener. Crerar Library Bookstacks Q223 .M67 2006

EndNote and Zotero are research management tools that helps you collect, organize, and share citations from library databases and catalogs. The Library provides training resources and services to help you use these tools effectively and efficiently. 

• Zotero by Ask a Librarian Updated Dec 2, 2022 1787 views this year
• EndNote by Ask a Librarian Updated Jan 19, 2022 1346 views this year
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Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students Created by contributors from Virginia Tech, University of Texas, University of Illinois and Georgia Tech and includes exercises and examples

The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, 3rd ed. Edited by Anne M. Coghill and Lorrin R. Garson ISBN13: 9780841239999  Crerar Library Reference Collection QD8.5 .A25 2006 c.1

Now available online  

Journal of the American Chemical Society instructions for authors http://pubs.acs.org/page/jacsat/submission/authors.html

Journal of Organic Chemistry instructions for authors http://pubs.acs.org/page/joceah/submission/authors.html

• Using ChemDraw to create structures Quick guide to the structure editor window menu and button options.

• A guide to writing as an engineer (2nd ed.) by Beer, D., & McMurrey, D. Call Number: T11 .B396 2005
• Writing and speaking in the technology professions : a practical guide (2nd ed.). by Beer, D. F. Call Number: T11 .W75 2003
• A scientific approach to scientific writing. by Blackwell, J. R., & J. Martin. Call Number: T11 .B53 2011 Available online
• Scientific papers and presentations (Revised ed.). by Davis, M. Call Number: T11.D324 2005
• How to write and publish a scientific paper by Robert A. Day and Barbara Gastel. Call Number: T11.D33 2006
• The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, 3rd ed. Call Number: QD8.5 .A25 2006 Available online.
• Science research writing for non-native speakers of English. by Deal, H. G. Available online
• The art of scientific writing : from student reports to professional by Ebel, H. F. Call Number: QD9.15.E23 2004 (2004). . Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. Crerar Library
• Writing for science. by Goldbort, R Call Number: T11.G626 2006 Available online
• How to write & illustrate a scientific paper. by Gustavii, B. Call Number: T11 .G86 2003
• Peer review and manuscript management in scientific journals: guidelines for good practice. by Hames, I. Call Number: Q225.5.H255 2007
• Ideas into words : mastering the craft of science writing. by Hancock, E. Call Number: T11 .H255 2003
• Developing quality technical information : a handbook for writers and editors by Gretchen Hargis Call Number: T11.D417 2004
• How to write technical reports understandable structure, good design, convincing presentation. by Hering,L. & H. Hering Available online
• Style and ethics of communication in science and engineering by Humphrey, J. D. & J. W. Holmes. Call Number: T11 .H857 2009 Available online
• Making sense: a student's guide to research and writing: enginering and the technical sciences. by Jewinski, M. N. J. Call Number: T11.N67 2007
• Writing the laboratory notebook. by Kanare, H. M. Call Number: Q180.58.K360 1985
• The Chicago guide to writing about numbers. by Miller, J. E. Call Number: T11 .M485 2004 Available online
• The Chicago guide to communicating science. by Montgomery, S. L. Call Number: T10.5 .M65 2003 Available online
• Writing in the sciences : exploring conventions of scientific discourse by Penrose, A. M., & Katz., S. B. Call Number: T11 .P393 2004
• Write like a chemist: a guide and resource. by Robinson, M. S. Call Number: QD9.15.W75 2008 Available online
• Spring into technical writing : for engineers and scientists by Rosenberg, B. J. Call Number: T11 .R663 2005
• Scientific style and format : the CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers by Style Manual Committee, Council of Science Editors Call Number: T11.S386 2006 Available online
• Communicating science effectively: a practical handbook for integrating visual elements by Thomas, J. E. Call Number: Q18Q223.C66 2006
• Handbook of public communication of science and technology. by Trench, M. B. B. Call Number: Q223.H3444 2008
• Bibliographic Details The craft of research by Wayne C. Booth, et al. Call Number: Q180.55.M4 B66 2008 Available online

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How to Create a Research Poster

• Poster Basics
• Design Tips
• Logos & Images

What is a Research Poster?

Posters are widely used in the academic community, and most conferences include poster presentations in their program.  Research posters summarize information or research concisely and attractively to help publicize it and generate discussion. 

The poster is usually a mixture of a brief text mixed with tables, graphs, pictures, and other presentation formats. At a conference, the researcher stands by the poster display while other participants can come and view the presentation and interact with the author.

What Makes a Good Poster?

• Important information should be readable from about 10 feet away
• Title is short and draws interest
• Word count of about 300 to 800 words
• Text is clear and to the point
• Use of bullets, numbering, and headlines make it easy to read
• Effective use of graphics, color and fonts
• Consistent and clean layout
• Includes acknowledgments, your name and institutional affiliation

A Sample of a Well Designed Poster

View this poster example in a web browser .  

Image credit: Poster Session Tips by [email protected], via Penn State

Where do I begin?

Answer these three questions:.

• What is the most important/interesting/astounding finding from my research project?
• How can I visually share my research with conference attendees? Should I use charts, graphs, photos, images?
• What kind of information can I convey during my talk that will complement my poster?

What software can I use to make a poster?

A popular, easy-to-use option. It is part of Microsoft Office package and is available on the library computers in rooms LC337 and LC336. ( Advice for creating a poster with PowerPoint ).

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign

Feature-rich professional software that is good for posters including lots of high-resolution images, but they are more complex and expensive.  NYU Faculty, Staff, and Students can access and download the Adobe Creative Suite .

Open Source Alternatives 

• OpenOffice is the free alternative to MS Office (Impress is its PowerPoint alternative).
• Inkscape and Gimp are alternatives to Adobe products.
• For charts and diagrams try Gliffy or Lovely Charts .
• A complete list of free graphics software .

A Sample of a Poorly Designed Poster

View this bad poster example in a browser.

Image Credit: Critique by Better Posters

• Next: Design Tips >>
• Last Updated: Jul 11, 2023 5:09 PM
• URL: https://guides.nyu.edu/posters

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Scientific Presentations and Posters

Annotated bibliographies and literature reviews.

• American Chemical Society (ACS) - Scientific Communication and Style Guide

The Craft of Scientific Presentations (ebook)

• Scientific Presentations (oral)
• Poster Presentations

Provides examples of scientific presentations to show clearly what makes an oral presentation effective. It considers presentations made to:

• Persuade an audience to adopt some course of action (such as funding a proposal)
• Communicate information

It considers both from four perspectives: speech, structure, visual aids, and delivery

• Use of computer-based projections, slide shows & overhead projectors
• Ways of organizing graphics and text in projected images
• Using layout and design to present the information efficiently and effectively
• Advice from successful scientific and engineering presenters, active laboratory directors
• Errors that cause many scientific presentations to flounder, providing a list of ten critical errors to avoid

Source: Alley, M. (2003).  The craft of scientific presentations : critical steps to succeed and critical errors to avoid .  Springer.

Effective Scientific Presentations

Clear and logical delivery of your ideas and scientific results is critical for a successful scientific career. Presentations encourage broader dissemination of your work

The Following is a summary of some tips for Good Oral Presentations from the Public Library of Science (PLOS)

• Talk to the Audience  : know audience members' backgrounds and present at the their knowledge level; what are they are hoping to get out of the presentation?
• Less is More  : be clear, concise; draw participants into a dialog during the question-and-answer session
• Make the Take Home Message Persistent  : What 3 things do you want the audience to remember after your presentation?
• Be Logical  : Think of the presentation as a story with a beginning, middle and end
• Practice & Time Your Presentation  : the more you practice the less likely you'll go off on tangents; practice in front of a group of peers
• Use Visuals Sparingly but Effectively  : think no more than one visual for each minute you are talking
• Review Audio and/or Video of your Presentations
• Give Credit Where Credit is Due

Source: Bourne PE (2007) Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presentations. PLoS Comput Biol 3(4): e77    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030077

Effective Poster Presentations

Posters are a snapshot of your work designed to start a conversation or convince the reader they want to learn more. They should be a summary that can stand on it's own if you're not present. They are time-consuming to prepare, but can lead to great collaborations and new colleagues when done effectively.

The following is a summary of some tips for Good Poster Presentations from the Public Library of Science (PLOS)

• Define the Purpose  : Ask yourself ask yourself this: What do you want the person passing by your poster to do? Engage in a discussion about the content? Learn enough to go off and want to try something for themselves? Want to collaborate?
• Sell Your Work in 10 Seconds  : You are going to have competition. You need to grab attention and be succinct
• The Title is Important  : The title is a good way to Sell Your Work and draw readers in
• Identify your Audience & Provide the Appropriate Scope and Depth of Content
• Good Posters have Unique Features Not in Papers  : including your presence! Posters can be a vehicle for you to distribute papers, supplementary information and handouts
• Layout and Form are Critical  : "Guide the passerby's eyes from one succinct frame to another in a logical fashion from beginning to end."
• Keep It Concise  : think clarity, precision of expression, and economy of words

During: Work to get a crowd by being engaging; one engaged viewer will attract others. Don't badger people, let them read; Work all the audience at once, do not leave visitors waiting for your attention; People are more likely to remember you than your work

After: Make it easy for a conference attendee to contact you afterward; Have the poster online and make the URL available as a handout; Have your e-mail and other demographics clearly displayed;

Source:    Erren TC, Bourne PE (2007) Ten Simple Rules for a Good Poster Presentation. PLoS Comput Biol 3(5): e102    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030102

Print your Posters in Albertsons Library

There is a color poster / large format plotter printer on the first floor of the Library.  Follow the  How to Print a Poster on the Plotter  instructions to format your poster for printing. If you need help printing, the ASK desk in the center of the Library 1st floor can help.

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

• Why Write one?
• How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is simply a bibliography with a paragraph or annotation that evaluates the quality and accuracy of a source.

Annotations are typically 150 words or less, summarizing the central theme of the work, critiquing the author or credibility of the source, and discussing  why   that source is relevant specifically for your research .

Information to consider including:

• Authority of the author
• Accuracy of the research
• Strengths or weaknesses of the article
• How the paper is related to your own research

Why Write an Annotated Bibliography?

Writing an annotated bibliography may seem like busy work, but it can really save you a lot of time!

Imagine you are writing a paper and you remember a really good quote that would be perfect for the section you're writing, but you can't quite remember where you read it. You end up hunting through 10-20 sources to find that quote wasting a lot of time in the process. An annotated bibliography would help you find that source more quickly.

Annotated bibliographies help you:

• See how your research is situated within the larger research conversation (context)
• Reinforce what you just read
• Think of the research in your own words, which is helpful to avoid accidentally plagiarizing some else's work
• Decide if you are interested in a topic area

How do I Write an Annotated Bibliography?

Just remember  CSE : Cite, Summarize, Evaluate.

• Cite your source
• Summarize the source
• Evaluate the source

As you're writing your Annotation, Ask yourself these questions:

• Is the author credible?
• What did I like or not like about the source?
• Are the arguments effective?  Does the author support her arguments?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses?
• How might I incorporate this source into my paper?

Answering these types of questions will help you formulate an effective critique and evaluation of each source.

A color coded example of what your annotation might look like:

Battle, K. (2007). Child poverty: The evolution and impact of child benefits. In K. Covell & R.B. Howe (Eds.),  A question of commitment: Children's rights  in Canada  (pp. 21-44). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Ken Battle draws on   a close study of government documents,  as well as his own research  as an extensively-published policy analyst , to  explain Canadian child benefit programs.  He outlines some fundamental assumptions supporting the belief that all society members should contribute to the upbringing of children.    His comparison of child poverty rates in a number of countries is a useful wake-up to anyone assuming Canadian society is doing a good job of protecting children.    Battle pays particular attention to the National Child Benefit (NCB), arguing that it did not deserve to be criticized by politicians and journalists.  He outlines the NCB’s development, costs, and benefits, and laments that the Conservative government scaled it back in favor of the inferior Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB).    However, he relies too heavily on his own work; he is the sole or primary author of almost half the sources in his bibliography.  He could make this work stronger by drawing from others' perspectives and analyses.    Battle does offer a   valuable source for this essay, because the chapter provides a concise overview of government-funded assistance currently available to parents.  This offers context for analyzing the scope and financial reality of child poverty in Canada.  

Additional sources that might help you:

• Annotated Bibliographies , Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography , by Deborah Knott, New College Writing Center. University of Toronto
• The Rough Writer's Guide, Chapter 12 - What is an annotated Bibliography
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography , by the Learning Commons Library
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• Next: American Chemical Society (ACS) - Scientific Communication and Style Guide >>
• Last Updated: May 21, 2024 1:32 PM
• URL: https://guides.boisestate.edu/chemistry

Tips for effective poster presentations

• ABCs of Teaching Analytical Science
• Published: 29 July 2006
• Volume 385 , pages 1347–1349, ( 2006 )

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• Cynthia K. Larive 1 &
• Ewa Bulska 2  

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Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

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Larive, C.K., Bulska, E. Tips for effective poster presentations. Anal Bioanal Chem 385 , 1347–1349 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-006-0618-8

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Published : 29 July 2006

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MORNING POSTER SESSION: Marvin D. Rausch Lectureship Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation (First Place):  Ruptanu Banerjee (Martin Group) William E. McEwen Award for Outstanding Poster   (Joint Second Place):  Cristina-Maria Hirschbiegel (Rotello Group) & Jithu Krishna (Thai Group) William E. McEwen Award for Outstanding Poster   (Joint Third Place):  Scott Thiel (Walsh Group) Paul Hatheway Terry Endowment Award for Outstanding Poster   (People's Choice):  Nicholas Baker (DuChene Group)

AFTERNOON POSTER SESSION: William E. McEwen Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation   (Joint First Place):  Daniil Ivanov (Kaltashov Group) William E. McEwen Award for Outstanding Poster (Joint second place):  Irina Sagarbarria (Hardy Group) William E. McEwen Award for Outstanding Poster   (Joint Third Place):  Theo Prachyathipsakul (Thai Group) Paul Hatheway Terry Endowment Award for Outstanding Poster   (People’s Choice):  Gaurav Mitra (Kittilstved group)

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Student Speaker Abstracts

Accessing Metastable States with Shock Compression  By: Kimberly Pereira The development of methods to enable the recovery of metastable high-pressure phasesto ambient conditions remains an outstanding challenge in materials science. One routethat remains unexplored is the use of shockwaves to rapidly decompress samples,analogous to the temperature quenching methods used to recover metastable high-temperature phases in steel processing. In our research, we use in situ X-ray diffraction toexplore the impact that dynamic compression and decompression has on the location ofphase boundaries in solid-state systems, with the goal of detecting and quantifying thekinetic effects that influence the phase transformations. We are specifically interested intransition metals, alloys, oxides, and carbides. Despite their structural simplicity, thesematerials remain poorly understood in terms of how they behave under extremeconditions. For example, there are significant differences between the phases observedunder static compression and the phases observed under dynamic compression to thesame conditions of pressure and temperature. Quantifying the crystal structure in thedynamic compression regime could inform fundamental understanding of atomicbonding, and could also offer insight into planetary processes such as those in our earth’sinterior. To reach these conditions and perform our experiments, we travel to some of thebrightest and most powerful light sources in the world including synchrotrons andXFELs, and collaborate with scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory andSLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. In this talk, I will present results from our studyinto elemental nickel under shock compression, where our exciting findings point to ahigher melting pressure and temperature than expected.

Finding the Common Thread: Factors that Impact Coulomb Interactions inDoped Organic Semiconductors  By: Michael Lu-Díaz Conjugated polymers spearhead the field of organic electronics on multiple forefronts –flexible displays, health monitoring sensors, and photovoltaics. These polymers must beoxidized or reduced to create a charge carrier (polaron) that is balanced by the dopantcounterion — a process termed chemical doping. While necessary for electricalconductivity, this simple chemical process also produces complicated and unpredictablechanges; doping alters polymer microstructure, generates additional energetic disorder,and can create localized polarons. A lack of control over these parameters impedes furtherdevelopment. I will share a story of how we are reshaping our understanding of chargetransport in conductive polymers by controlling the polaron-counterion distance.Through experiments and numerical simulations, we proved that systems with differentstructural order and side chain composition exhibit different charge transport propertiesdepending on their polaron-counterion distance. We used a combination of doping-dedoping experiments, kinetic analyses, optical characterization, and X-ray scattering.Our results indicate that polymers with shorter polaron-counterion distances lead toincreased dopant-induced effects. Our work shows a need for an integrated moleculardesign that requires both low intrinsic polymer energetic disorder and extrinsic dopant-induced energetic disorder for efficient charge transport.

Towards Accurate Coarse-Grained Simulation of Protein Phase Separation: Rolesof Backbone Interactions and Residual Structures  By: Yumeng Zhang Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) frequently drive liquid-liquid phase separation(LLPS) processes that give rise to biomolecular condensates. These membranelesssubcellular compartments have been linked to myriad biological functions and variousdiseases including Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Working hand-in-handwith theory and experiment, molecular simulations have a central role to play in studyinghow sequence and structural features of IDPs modulate LLPS. For this, coarse-graining isgenerally required to access the length and time-scales of IDP phase separation. However,the widely-used Ca-only models treat IDPs as simple polymers and fail to capture theirpeptide nature. Here, we describe a hybrid resolution (HyRes) protein model withcoarse-grained side chains but an atomistic backbone for an accurate description of thebackbone and transient secondary structures in LLPS. We show that the GPU version ofHyRes is efficient enough for direct simulation of spontaneous phase separation of IDPs.Importantly, it is also accurate enough to capture the effect of single mutations on theLLPS propensity. Using two model systems, namely, GY-23 from pepHBP-1 and theconserved region (CR) from TDP-43, we further illustrate how HyRes simulations helpto elucidate the coupling between IDP conformational equilibrium and phase separation.These results suggest that the HyRes model provides an important new tool forunderstanding the molecular basis of IDP-driven LLPS in various biological processes.

Advanced DNA Probes for Imaging and Modulating Cell Membrane DynamicInteractions  By: Ahsan Ausaf Ali The cell membrane is a complex and heterogenous structure composed chiefly of lipidsand proteins which dynamically interact with each other. These transient interactions arevery important in maintaining the integrity of the cell membrane and in the formation ofsignaling platforms which enable signal transduction and cell communication.Unfortunately, due to the fast nature of these interactions, our ability to visualize,quantify and precisely modulate them has been limited. We recently developed a probecalled the ‘DNA Zipper’ which may address these hurdles by predictably stabilizingtransient membrane interactions. Our DNA probe is anchored onto target membranelipids or proteins as a FRET pair and can reveal various biophysical properties of the livecell membranes. Since dysregulated membrane structures and interactions are known toplay critical roles in various diseases, this probe may also serve as a useful platform toidentify new drug molecules which may either induce or inhibit certain interactions.Therefore, we believe our DNA Zipper probe may have a broad range of applications toenhance our understanding of important cell membrane interactions and associated cellsignaling processes.

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