OCIP Symposium: Poster and 2-Minute Talk Guidelines

 

The OCIP symposium includes both a 2-minute talk and a poster presentation. These are not meant to be technical presentations of your full work. Rather, they are opportunities to communicate your research clearly to a broad audience of physicists, many of whom will be outside your subfield.

Success in this setting is not measured by completeness or technical detail, but by clarity. A strong presentation leaves a non-expert with a clear sense of:

  • what problem you are studying,

  • why it is interesting or important, and

  • what you found.

 

The 2-Minute Talk

The 2-minute talk is best thought of as an advertisement for your poster. You will give it before your designated time to answer questions about your poster. You may use one slide (optional), but both the talk and the slide should avoid technical detail and field specific jargon and acronyms. Instead, focus on the big picture. Aim for clarity and accessibility rather than completeness. If a listener from a different area of physics can follow your talk, you have succeeded.

Please send a PDF of your slide to the organizer in advance of the symposium.

 

The Poster Presentation

Your poster is where you present the substance of your work, but it should still be designed for a broad physics audience. During your assigned session, stand by your poster and be ready to discuss your work. When someone approaches, begin by briefly asking about their background so you can tailor your explanation appropriately.

It is helpful to prepare two versions of your explanation:

  • a short (~30 second) overview, and 
  • a slightly longer (1–2 minute) explanation. 

Avoid giving a long, uninterrupted explanation. Instead, keep your introduction brief and allow time for questions and discussion. Posters will also be available for viewing outside of your assigned session, so they should be understandable without you present.

 

Practical Information 

Each presenter is assigned a square space with maximum dimensions of 120 x 120 cm (approx. 47 x 47 inches). You are not required to completely fill this space, but posters should not exceed these measurements, otherwise they may encroach on the border and areas reserved for other posters. The largest size that would fit nicely on the poster boards is about 44” x 44”.  

Printing: At Carleton, The Print Shop ( https://carleton.ca/theprintshop ) can print your poster for you. You can pay for the printing yourself or your supervisor can submit a printing request through e-Shop.

At UO, the DocuCentre, located in the Unicentre can print your poster. You simply email them the pdf of your poster at reproatuottawa [dot] ca with an account number and the size of your poster. 

Make sure your print job will be finished in time. Allow for at least three days, even if two days may be sufficient. Call the printer ahead of time to confirm how much time is required for printing.

 

Suggestions for Preparing Scientific Posters

What makes a good poster?

Most posters fail by trying to do too much. A good poster is not a paper on a wall—it is a visual explanation of one idea. A viewer should be able to understand your main result in under 30 seconds. Everything on the poster should support that goal.

Content

Focus on clarity rather than completeness.

  • State the problem you are addressing in simple terms. 
  • Make clear why it matters (motivation or broader context). 
  • Present your main result(s) prominently. 
  • Include only the minimum background and methods needed to understand the result. 
  • End with a clear takeaway or conclusion. 

Avoid long derivations or dense blocks of text. If something cannot be explained briefly, it likely does not belong on the poster.

Structure

Organize your poster so that it can be read quickly and naturally.

  • Use a clear logical flow (typically left-to-right, top-to-bottom). 
  • Break content into distinct sections (e.g., Background, Setup, Results, Conclusion). 
  • Use short headers that guide the reader through the story. 
  • Ensure that the most important result is easy to find—do not bury it in a corner. 

A reader should be able to scan your poster and immediately see where to look first.

Figures and Visuals

Figures are the most important part of your poster.

  • Prioritize clear, simple figures over text. 
  • Every figure should have a clear message that can be understood quickly. 
  • Label axes and quantities clearly; avoid unexplained notation. 
  • Where possible, replace tables with plots or diagrams. 
  • Ensure figures are large enough to be read from a distance. 

If a figure requires a long explanation, simplify it.

Text and Readability

Keep text minimal and easy to read.

  • Use short sentences or bullet points rather than paragraphs. 
  • Avoid unnecessary jargon where possible. 
  • Ensure all text is legible from ~1.5 m (5 feet). 
    • Title: large (≈ 80 pt) 
    • Body text: at least 24 pt 
  • Use clear, standard fonts (e.g., Helvetica, Arial, Times). 

White space is useful. A crowded poster is difficult to read.

Design

Aim for a clean, uncluttered layout.

  • Use color sparingly to highlight important elements. 
  • Maintain strong contrast (e.g., dark text on light background). 
  • Be consistent in formatting (fonts, colors, spacing). 
  • Place key results and figures in visually prominent locations. 

Design should support readability, not distract from it.

A practical guideline

Before printing, step back and ask:

  • Can someone understand the main point in 30 seconds? 
  • Is the key result immediately visible? 
  • Is anything on the poster unnecessary? 

If the answer to the last question is “yes,” remove it.

[last updated April 2026]