Poster sessions offer researchers opportunities to highlight their work. Almost all major scientific meetings have poster sessions, with posters formatted and printed in a standard way. This page provides information and resources for CNS undergraduates that will be creating research posters and presenting their research in a poster session.
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Research Poster Templates
Poster templates in multiple styles is available especially for Natural Sciences students and researchers. Use these templates for polished presentations to display your work.
There are two sizes to choose from, each available in PowerPoint and each containing eight different styles, with four layout options per style. Slides 1-5 include instructions on how to choose the best template for your project and edit it accordingly. If you need to create a different size poster, these templates can be easily modified to any size:
If you need to design scientific figures for your poster or write a layperson-friendly summary of your research, you may also want to consult the summary of resources on science communication.
Poster Printing for CNS Undergraduate Researchers
The Office of Experiential Learning is not staffed as a full-service printing facility and can only print posters for CNS undergraduates. There is a fee of $25 per poster for any College of Natural Sciences undergraduate student. The Office of Experiential Learning is open Monday-Friday 8 am-5 pm and is closed during University Holidays. During the fall and spring semesters, we require at least 2 business days for all individual poster printing requests. At all other times including summer, we require at least 3 business days to accommodate for our reduced staff.
Poster printing requests from current FRI students and students participating in our annual Undergraduate Research Forum will be printed free of charge. If you are a current FRI student, please include your FRI stream name and what poster session you are attending when requesting this service instead of sharing a payment receipt.
How to Request Poster Printing:
- Design your poster in PowerPoint using the templates above.
- Pay fee of $25 through TXShop.
- Download receipt or take a screenshot of your poster payment receipt.
- Email your poster file (.pdf or .pptx), the poster dimensions (inches), the date AND time you need the poster by, and your proof of payment to cns.exl@austin.utexas.edu at least 2 business days in advance of your deadline during the fall or spring semester or 3 business days at any other time.
- You will receive an email from cns.exl@austin.utexas.edu when your poster is ready for pick up in PAI 5.60. If you do not receive an email response, please check your spam.
Important Printing Considerations:
- We do NOT print posters with dark or full color backgrounds. They use too much ink and delay the printing process. You can see our background color guidelines here. If we receive a poster file with a dark or full color background, then we will send it back to you for editing before we are able to print.
- The maximum poster size we can print is 42 x 60 inches.
- We use a Windows computer to print posters, and we strongly recommend Mac users save their poster file as a PDF before sending it to us.
CNS Course-Based and Group Poster Printing Requests
The Office of Experiential Learning is not staffed as a full-service printing facility and is only able to fulfill group poster printing requests for CNS undergraduate courses. All course-based printing must be coordinated in advance. As many courses request end-of-semester poster printing, it is best to email the Office of Experiential Learning early in the semester to reserve your printing time slot. Group poster printing requests may take up to 5 business days to process (from file submission to poster pick-up). Additionally, course-based are limited to a size of 24 x 36 inches and should have primarily white backgrounds.
Please email your group poster printing request to cns.exl@austin.utexas.edu to negotiate poster cost and secure your poster printing timeslot.