2023 DRK-12 PI Meeting Poster Guidelines

All PI meeting participants are encouraged to present a poster with information about their project. There will be two opportunities: in person at the PI Meeting in Arlington, VA and during virtual poster sessions.

TOPICS: General Poster Hall | Virtual Posters | Content and Layout Recommendations

General Poster Hall

The PI meeting agenda will include two general poster hall sessions held at the hotel as well as structured poster sessions. All projects are encouraged to participate in the general poster hall.

Structured poster sessions, during which about 8-12 projects present posters and engage in discussion, are based on preferences for topics during poster registration. Presenting projects in these sessions can be found in the Whova agenda.

Specifications for physical posters

Each project is limited to one poster. Posters should be no larger than 4' wide x 3' high in order to fit on the tri-fold poster board that we will provide. The middle panel of the tri-fold poster board measures 24" wide and the two side panels measure 12" wide each. CADRE will provide binder clips and push pins for attaching posters to boards, but please bring any other materials you may need. Electrical outlets will not be available. You will have table space in front of your poster on which you may place informational materials about your work, including hard copies of your project description and/or products.

Tips for designing physical posters

  • Don't use glossy paper because reflections will make your content more difficult to read.
  • Posters should be readable from a distance of 5 feet. Generally, the smallest readable type font at this distance is 20-25 point. While a number of fonts can be used, the following are readable from a distance of 2' to 4': Arial and Bookman 20 point and Times New Roman 24 point. 

Shipping

Posters may be mailed to the hotel at your own expense. Shipping information is listed on the logistics page.

Virtual Posters

All invited projects are encouraged to upload posters for the virtual poster hall to broaden the audience that can learn about your work.

To participate, you will be invited to upload your poster to the meeting app (Whova). This includes a PDF of your poster (see accessibility guidelines), and options to add a video and one additional PDF handout. Each virtual poster booth has a chat box where you can share additional resources with other participants. Virtual posters will be made available to meeting participants on the Whova app and to the public via cadrek12.org.

Uploading Your Poster to Whova

You will receive emails from CADRE and Whova (event-noreply@whova.io) when it’s time to set up your poster. Please check your spam or junk folders if you haven’t received an email from Whova after the email from CADRE. When you click on the link in the email, some field options will be pre-filled from registration. The person who registered as the primary contact for the poster will appear in the app as a presenter automatically. 

Click here to see screenshots of how posters will appear in the browser and mobile app.

Whova Fields:

  • Description/Abstract: Update the pre-filled information, as necessary.
  • Number: Please do not make changes to this field.
  • Poster Presentation
    • OPTIONAL: Recorded Video: You may add a link to YouTube/Vimeo (recommended), upload the video file itself, or link to a cloud URL (google drive, drop box, one drive). Note: other URLs such as https://multiplex.videohall.com/ are not allowed in this field.
    • PDFs (maximum 10 MB file size):
      • REQUIRED: The first PDF should be the same as what you print for the General Poster Hall or Structured Poster Session(if you have one).
      • OPTIONAL: A second PDF upload can be a handout or other project collateral.
  • Additional Presenters: additional presenters can only be added if they are registered on Whova.

Content and Layout Recommendations

Keep in mind that your poster should quickly and efficiently communicate to viewers your research. The key to crafting a good poster is to focus as narrowly as possible on the central ideas you need to convey. You won't have room to explain relationships among ideas in any detail, so pick out what's central to your topic and concentrate on that narrow focus. Present the data and findings uncovered in your project, as well as the broader impact of your research. See poster examples from the 2021 DRK-12 PI Meeting.

NSF Disclaimer and Rights to Photos: 

Posters and presentations must include an NSF disclaimer (Example: This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, grant # XXXXX. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.)

Please make sure you have the right to use any photos or image included in your presentations and posters.

Suggested content:

  • Project title.
  • Principal investigator's name and contact information.
  • Brief summary of the project, including:
    • What is the context of the work?
    • What claims, questions, or hypotheses are examined in the work?
    • What are your research design, data collection and analysis methods, and evaluation plan?
    • What are your evidence-based results? What are your products?
    • What are the implications of your findings?
    • How is the project making an impact?

General formatting and layout tips:

  • Provide a title and your name in large text.
  • Remember that viewers will typically expect information to flow from left to right and from top to bottom. If you want to use a different flow, be sure to give explicit signals on your poster.
  • Use headings and subheadings to label your information. Keep these short and to the point since they function as an index.
  • Use the same size margins on both graphics and text.