The Poster Section of the Penn State Altoona Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Fair is designed for undergraduate students whose projects are best conveyed in poster form. Individual and collaborative entries are acceptable. However, participants in a winning collaboration must split the prize money.
All research posters can be printed free of charge in The CAMP, located in room 125 of the Eiche Library. Files must be submitted online at least four business days prior to the desired pickup day.
Content
The exhibit must include:
- Student name (or names, if more than one student is presenting the exhibit)
- Collaborators, adviser(s), and department(s)
- A short title of the exhibit
- Funding sources (if applicable)
- Proof of regulatory committee approval (if the project involves human participants or animal subjects or biohazardous materials)
- Objectives
- Significance to the field
- Significance to society in general
- Methods
- Results, interpretation of results and conclusions, limitations of research, and directions for future research if the project is completed. Creative exhibits must include discussion of meaning and/or reflections on the body of work exhibited.
Display
The core of each exhibit is a poster with text and graphics intended for a general audience. The use of laptop computers is not permitted as part of the exhibit.
- Tabletop easels to display posters will be provided.
- Posters must be attached to the board with tacks (tacks will be provided).
- The tabletop easels on which you will be posting your posters have 84 x 40 amount of posting space; consult with your professor for the optimal size for your poster.
- The poster should attract attention and convey important information about the project.
- Language should be simple and descriptions brief. Excessive jargon should be avoided; necessary technical terms should be defined.
- Spelling and grammar must be correct.
- Photographs, drawings, charts, tables, or graphs should be simple, well organized, carefully chosen, and helpful in explaining complicated concepts to a wide audience.
- All text should be large enough to be read from a distance of 4 to 6 feet away.
- Limited tabletop space is available to each entrant and may be used to display supporting materials such as bibliographies, reports, models, artifacts, etc.
- All research posters can be printed free of charge in The CAMP, located in room 125 of the Eiche Library. Files must be emailed to [email protected] at least four business days prior to the desired pickup day.
Oral Presentation
- Each student should prepare to describe and discuss their exhibit; the goal is to make the work understandable to a non-expert audience.
- Descriptions should be clear and concise and should include the major points presented on the poster.
- Presentation must not exceed 5 minutes; judges will be instructed to observe this time limit. Note: A videotape or demonstration cannot be submitted for the discussion.
In cases where the student worked with collaborators, including their adviser, the presentation should clearly describe the student's role in the overall project.