Creating Effective Academic Posters in PowerPoint: Home

• Contact Jane Zhao if your class or group would like to request a session. 
• Stay tuned for upcoming Poster Creation workshops at the workshop registration page. 
• Workshop materials  
  • Presentation slides
  • Workshop practice files
  • A 48"x36" poster about poster design and creation. It covers a basic workflow of designing and creating academic posters as well as some PowerPoint tips. It includes three different theme colors based on the color palette from the Rice Design Elements.

Click to watch a recorded workshop on Creating an Effective Academic Poster in PowerPoint by Jane Zhao on 8/25/2022.

Purpose of posters

• share/showcase your scholarly work, spread out your ideas.
• interact with your colleagues and gather feedback.

Poster judging criteria - Stafford University, 2005 Symposium of Undergraduate Research in Progress (SURP)

• visually exciting design

• intellectually compelling content

• overall excellent communication with a general audience

Poster judging criteria - Rice University, The Natural Sciences Undergraduate Research Symposium (NSURS) Evaluation Rubric 

• Content
  • Framing: Does the student understand the purpose?
  • Methodology: How does the student approach the question?
  • Evaluation: What evidence does the student trust?
  • Synthesis: What meaning does the student derive from the findings?
• Communication
  • Clarity: How does the poster help make the findings accessible?
  • Presentation and Q&A: How does the student relate to the audience?

• Download all the DMC PowerPoint template files in a Zip file. 
• 48"x36"

  • Poster Template 48x36 -1, 3 columns, white text on Rice blue background.

  • Poster Template 48x36 -2, 3 columns, black text on white background.

  • Poster Template 48x36 -3, 3 columns, mixed of the template 1 & 2.

  • Poster Template 48x36 -4, 3 columns, mixed of the template 1&2. 

  • Poster Template 48x36 -5, 3 columns, gray heading, white background.

  • Poster Template 48x36 -6, 3 columns, Rice dark blue heading, white background.

    Note: Poster templates 48"x36" -5 and -6 were adapted from Microsoft Free templates. 

• 36"x24"

  • Poster Template 36x24 -1, 3 columns, white text on Rice blue background.

  • Poster Template 36x24 -2, 3 columns, black text on white background.

  • Poster Template 36x24 -3, 3 columns, mixed of the template 1 & 2.

  • Poster Template 36x24 -4, 3 columns, mixed of the template 1&2. 

• PowerPoint Poster Templates
•  PowerPoint Design your slides 
• PowerPoint Secrets: Color (Part 1) 

• Archaeology Southwest Conference Posters
• Student Posters at Yale Initiative for the Study of Ancient Pyrotechnology