how to format mini-posters

general information

Mini-posters should include sufficient detail to outline the novelty and significance of the study. Make sure key methods, results and messages are clearly identifiable to an intelligent scientist from another discipline.

The following structure is strongly recommended:

introduction (statement of aims of the study)
methods (brief outline of methods)
results (results obtained in sufficient details to justify the conclusion reached)
discussion (brief concluding statement). Please note that statements such as "the results will be discussed" are not acceptable
revelance statement a summay in layperson's terms of no more than 50 words addressing the potential for cross-discipline collaboration, future directions, possible applications of the research, etc. The ideal relevance statement would have two sentences, the first summarising the general significance of the study, the second suggesting potential collaborations to extend the findings.
eg. In two populations of patients with metastatic cancer we have now demonstrated a significant increase in survival associated with a psychological characteristic. We need further studies to explore the potential immunological pathways involved.

layout

The entire mini-poster, including title, author names and addresses, text references and relevence statement (and figures and/or tables, if included) must fit onto a single side of an A4 sized sheet of paper with left and right margins of 25mm and top and bottom margins of 20mm. This is equivalent to a text box of 256.5 x 160 mm.

Align the title, author names, address, subheadings (Introduction, Methods, etc.) and footnotes, if any, with the left border.
Use an indent of 0.5 cm spaces to begin a paragraph in the body text of the poster
Do not leave blank lines between paragraphs
Leave ONE line between title and authors and address and ONE between address and text
Do not leave a line between each section of the text (ie, between Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion)
If figures or tables are included, insert them in the text. Leave enough space around them to avoid confusion with the text. Figures or tables should be numbered and have legends.
Relevence statement, centred and aligned to the bottom margin, surrounded by a single point black border.

line spacing and font size

Use single spacing and ensure all elements are in times new roman.

title 14 point, boldface, uppercase only for the first letter of the first word and no full stop at the end (ie, sentence case).
authors name(s), faculty, department and institution address 12 point, times new roman.
subheadings (ie, Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion): 10 point, boldface, times new roman
text 10 point, times new roman
figures, legends, references, footnotes 9 point, times new roman
relevence statement 10 point, times new roman.

text

Abbreviations introduced by the authors can be used if they are given in full the first time in the text. System International (SI) units are preferred.
Generic names of drugs should be used in the text followed in parenthesis by the proprietary name and supplier
References are identified by consecutive numbers in the text using superscript and listed sequentially at the end of the mini poster using a format similar to that used for publication in Nature, i.e.,:
1. Neher, E. & Zucker, R. Neuron 10, 21-30 (1993).
2. Taylor, E.W. in Heart and Cardiovascular System (ed. Fozzard, H.A.) 1281-1293 (Raven, New York, 1992).
Footnotes are identified in the text using superscript, beginning with ^a.

authors

Authors' names should be initials and surname, no titles or degrees. In addition the following annotations must be observed.

person presenting the paper underlined.
staff indicated with a superscript ^#
students indicated with a superscript ^*
if a student is presenting the paper, the supervisor's name should be included among the authors and be indicated with a superscript ^s
Institutional and Departmental affiliation indicated in superscript numbers, after - and separated by a comma from - staff, student and supervisor status.

I Cathers^*#,1, N O'Dwyer^#S,1, P Neilson^S,2
1. Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney; 2. School of Electrcial Engineering, UNSW.

In the example above I Cathers is presenting the paper and is both staff and student of University of Sydney, N O'Dwyer is staff of University of Sydney and supervisor of I Cathers, P Neilson is supervisor of I Cathers and associated with UNSW.

students' and supervisors' responsibilities

Students should consult with their supervisors when writing mini-posters and include their supervisor(s)' name(s), properly annotated, among the authors. Students should make opportunities to rehearse their mini-poster, preferably with their supervisor(s), to ensure a polished presentation at the conference. Supervisors must monitor the quailty of papers and presentations.