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Research Posters

Poster sessions in classes and at conferences are a way to visually convey research. This guide offers the basics in design, content, and printing resources.

Using PowerPoint

There are three choices when creating a research poster:

  1. Use one of the University of Tennessee Research Poster templates or a Eureka poster template from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
  2. Contact your department for discipline-specific templates.
  3. Create your poster from scratch by using PowerPoint or a similar design program. 

IMPORTANT: Change the size of your slide before working on the poster. This will ensure that images and text do not blur.  24" by 36" and 36" by 48" are the most common sizes, but follow instructor/conference guidelines.

PowerPoint in Windows Screenshot

Picture of blank PowerPoint slide on a PC.

Directions for changing PowerPoint Slide size in PowerPoint 2016:

1. Click on the "Design tab" on the top left.
2. Click "Slide Size" in the top right.
3. Click on "Custom Slide Size."
4. Specify the width and height of the poster.

PowerPoint in Mac Screenshot

Picture of blank PowerPoint slide on a Mac.

Directions for changing PowerPoint Slide size in PowerPoint 2016:

1. Click on the "Design tab" on the top left.
2. Click "Slide Size" in the top right.
3. Click on "Custom Slide Size."
4. Specify the width and height of the poster.