Research posters are a commonly used form of dissemination of academic work. Many academic conferences will include poster presentations as part of the event, which will provide opportunities for presenters to talk to attendees about their work with their poster as a visual aid. 

A good academic research poster will be:

• Clear and concise: the rule of thumb is to keep the word count to a minimum to avoid requiring viewers to do too much reading.
• Structured: providing an obvious way to navigate your poster through the use of clearly signalled subheadings will make it easier to engage with the content.
• Visual: a poster will usually include some visual elements such as graphical representations of data, or accompanying relevant images. An appropriate image can help you to convey a lot of information in a more accessible way. 
• Professional: a research poster will usually include some specific information including your name, institution, contact details and the logos of any organisations that may have been involved in the research.

Academic posters are used for a variety of purposes:

• To advertise your department, university, research group or yourself
• To help start a conversation and raise an interest in your work
• To inform of an issue or persuade
• To make new contacts for collaboration and jobs

A poster is a visual method of presentation and requires a different approach to writing a report or giving a presentation. It allows you to discuss your research and get feedback.

Academic posters are an excellent way for trainees to showcase their work at conferences and meetings. When done effectively they provide a succinct and attractive summary of a project.

While it may seem more prestigious to present an oral session than a poster, oral presentations are often delivered to a small select group as part of multiple parallel sessions. A poster, meanwhile, may be viewed by hundreds of attendees. In addition, presenting a poster offers opportunities to meet other people in the field of interest, to share ideas and to learn new concepts.