Creating a scientific poster
As a PhD student you will be presenting your project and research results in poster sessions at conferences and other events throughout your PhD programme. On this page you can find recommendations and guidelines, including tips on how to avoid common poster pitfalls, as well as information about Lund University poster templates and support for creating engaging scientific posters.
Engaging and informative posters
Useful tips before your start designing your poster
- Tailor your content to your target group and context.
- Modify your text and images before you start designing – avoid copying and pasting text or figures directly from your manuscript or report.
- Limit and reduce the amount of text! Keep only what is most important.
- Save your images in pdf and view them in 100%, to make sure that your figures are legible, and your photos are sharp and of high enough quality for printing.
Make your poster legible – Guidelines for headings and paragraphs
- A short title makes it easier for your audience to quickly understand your message.
- The size of the title should be approximately 100 points, to be readable at a distance.
- Running text should be approximately 36 points (equivalent to 1 cm high).
- Short and concise texts, preferably arranged in bullet points, are more readable at a distance than long and wide text paragraphs.
- Avoid paragraphs that are too long; use a maximum of 40–50 letters per line (including spaces), and no more than 6 lines per paragraph, for higher legibility.
Support & templates
You can get help designing and structuring your poster and using the templates, or get feedback on your poster layout prior to printing. Ask a question or book an individual consultation by contacting the Library & ICT research support team at Library & ICT research support (web form).
Lund University has poster templates for PowerPoint and InDesign. The poster templates are available for download at Lund University´s Image and Media Bank.
The compulsory layout elements for scientific posters with Lund University as affiliation are: a 15 mm white margin and Lund University´s logo placed according to the template; the title in bronze colour with a line in bronze underneath. Keep the title format style as it appears in the template.
The template has a coloured background based on the profile colours for Lund University. The background colour may be changed into any of Lund University's other profile colours, or into white.
There are guidelines for using more than one logo for posters – contact us at Library & ICT if you have any questions.
Adobe Garamond Pro and Frutiger LT Std vs New Times Roman and Arial
Printed material from Lund University, including scientific posters, has two preferable choices of profile font: Adobe Garamond Pro and Frutiger LT Std. These fonts are not compulsory for scientific posters, but Lund University recommends using them, or as an alternative, Times New Roman for the title and headings and Arial for the body texts.
Download fonts at Lund University´s Image and Media Bank (Login with your Lucat ID).
MediaTryck is Lund University's internal printing and design agency. They can print your poster within 24 hours. You need to send your poster as a pdf.
Poster printing (MediaTryck's website)
Contact
Library & ICT research support team
Book an individual consultation, ask a question, or get feedback on your poster layout. Contact us at Library & ICT Research Support (web form).