Research Expo Poster Presenter Instructions

The UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is hosting its 43rd annual Research Expo on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. This is an opportunity for our graduate students to showcase their research to our industry and community partners, recruiters, and faculty from across the Jacobs School.

In addition to networking with industry, faculty, and fellow graduate students, Research Expo student poster presenters gain valuable experience communicating their research to a non-technical audience. Several awards will be presented based on how well students are able to effectively communicate the significance of their work:

  • $1,500 M. Lea Rudee Outstanding Poster Award
  • $750 Department Best Poster Prizes 
  • $500 People's Choice Award
  • $1,000 Transdisciplinary Collaboration Award (see Award Requirements below for qualification criteria, including attending this mandatory workshop on March 27.)

Poster Presentations are evaluated by esteemed judges based on these four major criteria:

  • Student's oral presentation is well-prepared, concise, and provided a good synopsis of the significance of the research, results and possible future applications
  • Student's response to questions shows insightful knowledge and contributed to my understanding of the research
  • The poster is well organized and visually appealing
  • The poster communicates the significance and relevance of the results

 

Poster Setup

Research Expo is Wednesday, April 30. Poster presenter check-in and poster setup runs from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Once you have checked in and set up your poster at some point between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., you are free until 1:00 p.m. (NOTE: At least one presenter must arrive no later than 11:00 a.m. and posters must be set up by 11:15 a.m. to avoid the possibility of withdrawal)

Please plan to stay at your poster from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., when the Poster Session and award distribution concludes. All participants should stand by their posters during this time period; you must be at your poster when judges arrive to be eligible for awards and prizes. 

Poster Tear-down

All posters should remain up for viewing throughout the entire Research Expo event from 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Please keep your poster up so that the maximum number of people have a chance to look at your work. Poster tear-down is at 5:15 p.m. Posters left following the event will be recycled.

Poster Instructions

  • Your poster should be 3' x 4' in landscape format. Place poster title and author(s) name at the top of your poster, with printed characters at least 1" high.
  • The title should be the same as the title you registered with your abstract when you registered to participate.
  • The poster should have large, legible text and figures. Describe results in a manner that would be clear to a reader, even in the author's absence. It should be possible to read your poster from 3 feet away.
  • We recommend that you print your poster on coated heavy weight paper. Heavy foam core-type posters are not recommended due to the type of display boards used at Research Expo.

Poster Printing

We recommend that you have your poster printed by April 17. If you wait until the last moment, you may end up paying extra for printing, or find that you cannot get your poster printed in time! Please note: Printing cost is the responsibility of the student.

Recommended vendors include:

Special AV/Facility Requirements

This event is predominantly outdoors. If your presentation requires prototypes or laptops, please note that these demos must fit within the space provided (approx. 2' x 4') and students are responsible for their own equipment (i.e. no outlets provided so laptops should run off battery power).

Poster Categories and Logos

Posters will be judged by department. If your research is also affiliated with one of the Jacobs School's "Agile Research Centers," or an established Research Institute or Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, you are encouraged to include those affiliations / logos on your poster as well.

See the campus-wide UC San Diego logo guidelines here.

Award Requirements

In addition to the departmental best poster categories and the People's Choice, students have the opportunity to participate in the Transdisciplinary Collaboration Award, with a $1,000 prize.

The Transdisciplinary Collaboration Award will be given to a Jacobs School of Engineering graduate student who commits to partnering with a UC San Diego non-engineering student to work together to best communicate the significance of their research to a non-technical audience. (prize money to be split equally between presenter and collaborator).

To qualify for this award, graduate student poster presenters must meet the following criteria:

○ Must be a Jacobs School of Engineering graduate student
○ Must attend the March 27th "How To" Poster Presentation Workshop led by alumni judges, where you will be paired with your collaborator (no exceptions)
○ Must commit to two (2) self-directed 30 minute sessions with your assigned partner to collaborate on communicating your research to non-experts.

Note: It is the sole responsibility of the graduate student researcher to communicate their research and present their poster at Research Expo. Collaborators are invited to attend for moral support, but will not be permitted to present on behalf of the engineering researchers.

The other three awards are open to all Research Expo participants and will be awarded based on the judges' feedback for these four criteria:

New this year is the Transdisciplinary Collaboration Award with a $1,000 prize. The award will be given to a Jacobs School of Engineering graduate student who commits to partnering with a non-engineering UC San Diego student to work together to best communicate the significance of their research to a non-technical audience. To qualify for this award, graduate student poster presenters must meet the following criteria:

The other three awards are open to all Research Expo participants, and will be awarded based on the judges' feedback for these four criteria:

  • Student's oral presentation is well-prepared, concise, and provided a good synopsis of the significance of the research, results and possible future applications
  • Student's response to questions shows insightful knowledge and contributed to my understanding of the research
  • The poster is well organized and visually appealing
  • The poster communicates the significance and relevance of the results
  • Student's oral presentation is well-prepared, concise, and provided a good synopsis of the significance of the research, results and possible future applications
  • Student's response to questions shows insightful knowledge and contributed to my understanding of the research
  • The poster is well organized and visually appealing
  • The poster communicates the significance and relevance of the results

 

If you have any questions regarding the poster session, please contact  researchexpo@ucsd.edu.