Poster Guidelines

The poster sessions are the heart of TAGC, where you can spread the word about your work, get feedback, and find new inspiration face-to-face with your colleagues. Most submitted abstracts will be scheduled as posters.

If you are not selected for an oral session you must display a poster. You must present your poster at multiple sessions.

Poster Size and Orientation

Two posters will share an 8 foot wide by 4 foot tall space. Each presenter is allotted one-half of the board. Posters that are larger than 3’8” wide by 3’10” tall will be removed.

Poster Schedule

The poster area will be open between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and midnight daily for poster viewing, beginning at 5:00 p.m., Thursday, April 23 and ending at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, April 25.

April 23, 2020

3:00 p.m.  Presenters may begin mounting posters in allocated space

7:00 p.m.  All posters must be in place

April 25, 2020

6:30 p.m.  Presenters may begin removing posters

7:00 p.m.  Work crews begin removing poster boards and any remaining posters

GSA staff, facility staff, and personnel breaking down the boards will not be responsible for posters left up by their authors. Posters should NOT be removed before 6:30 p.m. on April 25. If you need a poster for another presentation you should have a duplicate poster prepared.

All posters will be located in the exhibit and poster area at the conference site. You must be wearing your official meeting badge to gain entry to the exhibits and posters.

GSA cannot be responsible for items left in the hall including but not limited to poster tubes, purses, backpacks, etc. Please keep personal items with you at all times.

You are expected to be at your poster during your assigned timeslots. Poster sessions are scheduled as follows:

Thursday, April 23, 2020

5:00 p.m. – 12:00 midnight Open Poster Viewing

7:45 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. “A” poster presenters must be at boards

8:30 p.m. – 9:15 p.m. “B” poster presenters must be at boards

9:15 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. “C” poster presenters must be at boards

Friday, April 24, 2020

6:00 a.m. – 11:59 p.m. Open Poster Viewing

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Odd-numbered poster presenters must be at boards

5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Even-numbered poster presenters must be at boards

Saturday, April 25, 2020

6:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Open Poster Viewing

4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Even-numbered poster presenters must be at boards

5:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. Odd-numbered poster presenters must be at boards

GSA will place a number on your poster board. That number should not be moved. If the number is moved or removed, your poster will not be considered for the poster award competition.

No-one is permitted to take photos or videos of your poster unless you are present and provide consent. If you want to remind viewers not to take photos of your poster, you should add this icon to your poster.

If a presenter is unable to attend their poster at the designated time, GSA asks that they find an alternate person to present in their absence. If a poster is unattended at the designated time (except in special cases such as illness, family emergencies, visa issues, or difficulty finding childcare), GSA may exclude the poster presenter from submitting abstracts to future meetings.

Poster Competition

GSA student members are eligible and invited to enter the Poster Competition, which will be judged and awarded at the meeting. You may enter only one abstract into the Poster Competition during the abstract submission process. Winners will be announced at the meeting and on the GSA’s blog, social media, and email newsletter.

Invite Poster Viewers

Amplify your work and seek expert feedback by inviting specific scientists to attend your poster presentation. Submit invitations via this survey. Submissions are due by March 20, 2020.

• Undergraduate, graduate student, and postdoctoral GSA members may invite up to three scientists to attend their poster.
• You may invite any researcher at any career stage, but we suggest inviting individuals who either typically attend one of the participating community meetings (C. elegans, Drosophila, PEQG, Mammalian Genetics, Xenopus, Yeast, Zebrafish) or who are located in the Washington, DC region. Please note that GSA cannot guarantee meeting attendance of any particular person. List of registrants.
• GSA will reach out to these scientists and invite them to attend the meeting and your poster.
• Your abstract and contact details will be included in the invitation.

Preparing Effective Posters

Here are some tips for ensuring your poster presentation is effective:

• PLAN: An effective poster requires careful thought and preparation. It is not sufficient to enlarge an abstract and add a few figures. First identify your one, two, or three principal messages. Then work out the most effective way to convey those points and choose a headline to help highlight each message. Your poster should be self-explanatory so that you are free to answer questions and expand on particular points.
• TEXT: Your poster text should be easily readable and the design well organized. Use a type size that can be read easily at a distance. Text that is too small is the most common problem in poster design. Keep the text succinct.
• GRAPHICS: Summarize current research with clear and self-explanatory graphics: charts, tables, micrographs, diagrams etc. Simple use of color can add emphasis.
• TITLE: Prepare a heading at the top of your poster indicating the abstract title, authors, and affiliations. Make the title large enough to be read easily from a reasonable distance (~ 4 feet). Authors may opt to include a picture of themselves to allow people to find them to discuss their work after the day of their presentation.
• METHODS: Details of methodology should be brief and placed at the end of the legend.
• CONCLUSION: Many successful posters provide a bulleted list of conclusions and questions raised.
• REFERENCES: Some references should be provided, but they need not be as extensive as those in papers.