2025 AIHEC
STUDENT CONFERENCE
SCIENTIFIC POSTER PRESENTATION
Required Competition
Registration Deadline February 14, 2025.
AIHEC Scientific Poster Presentation Competition Objectives:
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Strengthen existing Science programs at TCUs and stimulate new interest in STEM fields.
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Encourage undergraduate research; provide a forum for students to interact with faculty and peers; bolster students’ skills as scientists and communicators.
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Showcase talent and skills in research, visual design, and public speaking.
This form shall be submitted by February 14, 2025.
Contact:
Misty Brave mbrave@olc.edu
AIHEC Scientific Poster Presentation Competition Rules:
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The goal of the poster presentation is to have an organized and attractive presentation of research findings. Posters need to be self-explanatory and readable.
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The top of the poster needs to have a title that is both short and very descriptive of your project. For empirical studies, the title shall also mention the organism(s) studied. As a rule, the title needs to be easily readable at a distance of about 4-5 feet away (words are approximately 1.5-2.5 cm in height).
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Directly under the title will be the student’s name, the faculty sponsor’s name, and the college name. The name and affiliation section is usually about 20%-30% smaller than the title.
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The Abstract: This is a brief synopsis of the entire work described in the poster. Most abstracts are one or two paragraphs in length. The abstract should be understandable without reading the entire poster and the reader should be able to decide if s/he would like to read the entire poster based on what they read in the abstract. The abstract should contain the following elements: (1) the purpose of the study, (2) a brief statement of the procedures, (3) a concise statement of the major findings, and (4) the major conclusions. Do not include the details of the methods.
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Introduction: The purpose of the introduction is to present the question being explored by the research and to place it in the context of current knowledge about the topic. It often works well to start with the general context and work into the specifics, ending with a precise statement of the question or hypothesis being addressed by the study. The introduction should convince the reader of the significance of your study. To do this well in a poster is a challenging requirement. Be brief but include the important points to be sure the reader sees the relevance of your work.
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Methods: In this section describe all procedures that you performed. Describe your methods in sufficient detail to allow a reader who works in the field to understand the work completed to collect data. Illustrations are appropriate for complex experimental design, etc.
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Results: The purpose of this section is to summarize data. Report the results of any statistical test. Present all results, whether positive or negative. A table or figure may substitute for a written summary as long as each table or figure has a legend that explains the graphic clearly.
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Discussion: Interpret the meaning of the results with respect to the original question. Interpret the results without repeating them. The discussion shall include the conclusion about the answers to the questions that motivated the research described in the introduction. If appropriate, mention explanations for unexpected results.
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Literature Cited: Unless citations are used in the text, this section is optional. Include only cited papers from the text. Do not cite a paper unless it has been thoroughly examined. Cite all references in the text and list them in the literature-cited section using a format from a major journal within your discipline.
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Illustrations: Illustrations, tables, figures, photographs, and diagrams need to have unique identification numbers and legends. In the text, use the numbers to refer to specific graphics or pictures. In your legends, include a full explanation and, where appropriate, include color keys, scale, etc.
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There are endless numbers of ways to put a poster together. Remember, try to create a strong visual, but avoid making the poster look crowded. It is important to provide some indication of the flow of the poster (top to bottom, left to right). Some posters have numbered sections (units) to indicate the reading order.
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One entire poster shall not take up a space no larger than 80cm by 120cm (32”x48”). All posters will be affixed to and displayed on a vertical surface (e.g. wood, foam board, cork board). You should determine how to secure your poster to such a surface and bring whatever materials you will need to do this. You may build your poster upon a single piece of poster-board, or it may be made up of several individual components that can be secured to the display surface.
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If each of the above components are a single unit, the smallest unit will be no smaller than 17.5cm by 20.5cm, except for literature cited and for the title and name sections that are, by necessity, linear orientation. Unless otherwise directed in the above sections, the text font size is to be no smaller than about 3-4mm in height for an upper-case letter (12 point font in Times New Roman). Times New Roman is difficult to read at a distance, but there are many other font options to choose from so long as they are comparable to 12-point font for Times New Roman.
Scientific Oral Presentation Guidelines & Procedures:
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The Scientific Oral Presentation coordinator historically (since 1996) has been representatives from All Nations Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ANLSAMP) located at Salish Kootenai College. The Scientific Oral Presentation coordinator will reserve an appropriately-sized Scientific Oral Presentation location. A small conference room might suffice, depending on the number of entries.
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The Scientific Oral Presentation coordinator will provide periodic updates to the host committee concerning registration numbers and the cost of the Scientific Oral Presentation supplies such as easels to display the Orals.
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The Scientific Oral Presentation coordinator may use the proven rules from above and adjust as the need arises to adapt to the specific host location, participant-entry size, budget limitations, etc.
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The Scientific Oral Presentation coordinator might need to recruit ~ two (2) people (faculty, students, or other ANLSAMP staff members for judging) to assist with onsite monitoring and registration and on-site setup of the conference room.
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Suggested Checklist of Materials to bring to the conference: master spreadsheet of the registered students, laptop, projector, and a projector screen.
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Have a firm registration deadline. Postmarked, faxed, emailed, etc. at least seven (7) days before the start of the conference. No exceptions.
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Enter registered students into a master spreadsheet by college/team to ease the checking in process at the conference.
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The coordinator arrives at the conference at least a day before the competition to set up the room reserved for the Scientific Oral Presentation.
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The Scientific Oral Presentation coordinator is responsible for reporting the winning team to the awards’ banquet coordinator.