IU Undergraduate Research Conference

Presentation Formats

This year the IUURC offers five ways to present your research:

At the conference

1. Poster
2. ePortfolio/visual display
3. Oral presentation

For those who can’t travel to Indianapolis:

1. Zoom sessions during the conference
2. Static ePortfolio or narrated power point presentation submitted in advance of conference

Poster or visual display presentation format

Research and creative work in some academic fields lend themselves to a visual display. In a face-to-face conference, posters offer the opportunity to present data and prompt discussions with interested colleagues. The conference audience will circulate among the posters and tabletop displays, stopping to discuss projects of particular interest. 

Posters are not the only acceptable types of visual presentations of scholarly work. For example, a visual display could be a tabletop or floor display of an artistic work or research product. When you submit your abstract (project description) for this presentation format, you will be asked to indicate whether you will need a tabletop, access to an outlet, or any other special considerations. 

At the top of your poster or sign, include the title of your project and the names of the authors. To prepare your discussion for this presentation format, consider how best to get your points across to a small audience. You will want to provide a clear introduction of your topic, clearly identify and fully support your main points, and reinforce your central idea in your conclusion. 

In previous conferences, students had posters starting at 32" x 40". We do not recommend smaller than this to ensure poster readability. Poster size for IUURC can be based on what is appropriate sizing for your project discipline but please note the easels can only support up to 40" x 60".

Oral presentation format

To prepare your talk, you should consider how best to communicate your points to the audience. You will want to provide an introduction of your topic, clearly identify your thesis or research question, fully support your main points, and reinforce your central idea in your conclusion. Practice your presentation so you can complete it in 12 minutes. After your presentation, you will have about 3 minutes to answer any questions from the audience.

Presenters should arrive at least 5 minutes before the beginning of the session in which their paper is scheduled (not 15 minutes before your own paper) in order to introduce yourself to your judges and the moderator. After your presentation, please remain in the conference room to listen to the other presenters in your session.

Have a question? Reach out to us!

Contact us at johna@iu.edu.