Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Presentation Resources

Home / Student Resources / Presentation Resources

Circulating your work to a wide audience is an important part of the research, scholarly, and creative process. Whether you are giving an oral presentation, presenting a poster, giving a performance, exhibiting artwork, or preparing a manuscript for publication, circulating your work gives you the opportunity to solidify your understanding of your project, get feedback on your work, enhance communication skills, and build confidence.

Your primary resource for preparing for any presentation or publication should be your faculty mentor. They will be familiar with the standards in your discipline and they may have sample materials from related projects. The resources on this page are intended to complement your work with your faculty mentor and to address specific guidelines for presentations at UMKC's undergraduate research symposia.

Abstracts

Guidelines for Abstracts for UMKC Symposia:

  • Format the page with one-inch margins
  • Format the text as single-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font
  • In the upper left-hand corner of the page, list the student's name, faculty mentor's name, academic unit/department, and any funding acknowledgements
  • Center the title of the project above the body of the abstract
  • The abstract may not be longer than one page
  • Save the document as a Microsoft Word Document to upload to the online registration form

Template for Abstracts (Word) for UMKC Symposia

Sample Abstract Book (PDF) from recent UMKC Symposium

Posters

Size Guidelines for Posters for UMKC Symposia:

  • Annual Symposium: up to 45"x45"
  • SUROP Symposium: up to 45"x45"
  • Eureka Symposium: determined by course instructor

Printing Posters:

  • Plan to submit your poster for printing at least three business days prior to the event. Each printer has their own standards for turn-around time, so be sure to ask when you need to submit the final draft of your poster for printing.
  • Ask your faculty mentor about poster printing resources in their academic unit.
  • Learn about poster printing at Miller Nichols Library (see details).
  • Some students print posters at commercial printers (ex., FedEx Office or Office Depot). If the cost of printing is to be reimbursed from a UMKC account (ex., SEARCH grant or faculty research account), then be sure to provide information for a tax-exempt purchase.

Poster Design:

  • You may use a template provided by your faculty mentor, create your own design and layout, or use this optional template (PPT).
  • Set the dimensions of the document to the dimensions of your final printed poster.
  • Header should include the title of your project, author(s) names (including your faculty mentor), relevant affiliations (the UMKC department/division that sponsored this project and/or the course name, research group, or lab in which this project originated), and any funding acknowledgements.
  • Text should be large enough to read from six feet away, 48+ for headings and 24+ for body. Fonts should be clear and easy to read.

Samples Posters Coming Soon!

Oral Presentations

Guidelines for Oral Presentations at UMKC Symposia:

  • Speak for 10-15 minutes
  • Respond to questions for 5-10 minutes
  • Bring slides on a USB drive
  • Presentation rooms are equipped with a computer and projector or digital display

Performances

Musicians, dancers, actors, writers, and other artists are encouraged to propose performances for UMKC's symposia. Due to the unique requirements of such a broad range of art forms, we do not publish specific guidelines for performances. However, performances should not exceed 15 minutes.

Please be prepared to provide information regarding the number of performers; the amount of performance space needed; audio, visual, and other technical needs; and setup/breakdown time. There may be some limitations due to the location and format of the symposium, but our office will do its best to accommodate the needs of your performance.

Exhibitions of Visual Art

Artists are encouraged to propose exhibitions of paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, sculpture, or other original works of art. Our office will do our best to accommodate your needs, but the standard equipment we provide for displaying artwork is: 

  • 4-foot tackboard to display small works of art
  • 8-foot tackboard to display large works of art, or a small collection of related works
  • Easel to display stretched canvas or mounted artwork
  • 6-foot table to display art objects