St John's Poster Competition
Poster Competition 2023
St John's Poster Competition 2023
St John's is delighted to be launching our Poster Competition for 2023. The competition is open to UK students in Year 12 (England/Wales) / S5 (Scotland) / Y13 (Northern Ireland).
- What is it?
We’d like you to complete a small research project on an academic topic or question that interests you, from any subject area, and create an academic research poster about it. We’d also like you to create a three minute video presenting your poster.
The theme of this year's competition is DARK, and so your submission should relate to this theme. We encourage creative interpretations of this theme.
For examples of previous submissions, as well as resources and videos to help, please see below.
Your submission will include 3 elements:
- An academic research poster, either digital or a photo of a physical poster
- A three minute video in which you present your poster and your project findings
- A separate bibliography (or references included on your poster)
- When is the deadline?
- You need to submit your entry by Friday 4th August 2023.
- Please click here for the form to submit your entry.
- How will submissions be judged?
- The project will be judged by academics at St John's College researching/teaching in your submission's academic area(s), and there will be prizes in the form of National Book Tokens for:
- Best Poster
- Best Presentation
- Best Research
- Overall winner
- There will also be a gallery of the year's best submissions posted on this webpage.
- There will also be a gallery of the year's best submissions posted on this webpage.
- The project will be judged by academics at St John's College researching/teaching in your submission's academic area(s), and there will be prizes in the form of National Book Tokens for:
Please get in touch with AccessOfficer@joh.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions.
Please see below for recommendations for creating the poster and the video:
To format the poster using PowerPoint, students can edit the slide’s size in the Design tab, clicking on Custom Slide Size - it is recommended to select A3 and ensure width and height measurements are 26.67cm and 35.56cm; posters can be landscape or portrait orientation.
To record the 3-minute video presentation, students can use Zoom. If you have any issues with this, or submitting the video file via the submission form, you can get in touch - AccessOfficer@joh.cam.ac.uk. An example of the sort of poster presentation video that we’re looking for is here.
Poster Preparation Advice (from The Challenger Society for Marine Science)
• A poster needs to be attractive, and draw attention to itself.
• A poster needs to be easily readable, and not just by someone standing really close to it. For the main text, take care to choose a clear type-face at sensible point size. Avoid long complex sentences.
• Avoid large slabs of text and overlong line-lengths; the optimal line-length for readability is considered to be 50–65 characters per line, including spaces. For consistent spacing between words, use unjustified text.
• Ensure your diagrams are large enough to be seen clearly, and that the line weights of graphs etc. aren’t too spindly.
• Ensure that you have explained your symbols and acronyms, and have put scales on figures if necessary.
• Aim to have no more than about five figures (diagrams and photos). Remember that a well-chosen picture can be worth a thousand words.
• Diagrams need to be close to the text that relates to them, or very easily located.
• Make use of colour to enliven the poster and help direct the reader where to look.
• Don’t be tempted into over-complicating the appearance of the poster, and obscuring your message.
• Try to convey why your research and your project is so exciting.
What is an Academic Poster?
Research: Where to Start?
How to Research Online
How to Make a Scientific Poster
How to Make an Arts and Humanities Poster?
Example poster and accompanying presentation
Example poster and accompanying presentation
Project Title: RNA Rosetta Stone: RNA origami codes for exploring RNA diversity
Other Examples of Academic Posters
Helpful links and resources
Super-curricular resource hubs from Cambridge and Oxford:
University of Cambridge Super-curricular Suggestions
Super-curricular Resource Hub from University College, Oxford
Advice and guidance on academic research skills e.g. referencing, effective academic reading and note-making:
Open Access research from Cambridge University:
Cambridge Digital Library – a database of digitised research and material from Cambridge
Cambridge University Research – latest news
Apollo - University of Cambridge Open Access Repository
Open access journals and search engines
Bio Med Central - open access journals in biomedicine, physical sciences, mathematics and engineering
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) - open access, peer-reviewed journals in all areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and humanities
JSTOR - an open access platform for scholarship, primary sources, and research collections
NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science - an open access journal covering the relevant physical, chemical and biological components of atmospheric and climate science
Open Library of the Humanities - an open access platform supporting academic journals from across the humanities subjects
Open Book Publishers - open access e-books
Winners' Gallery
The 2022 theme was CYCLE, and we were delighted with the creative interpretation of this theme. Take a look below at some of the winning submissions.
This thoroughly researched and comprehensive poster project hugely impressed our judges. This submission was the Overall Winner for the 2022 competition.
This submission was an excellent interpretation of the competition's theme, presented in an interesting and accessible way. This poster was awarded the Research Prize in 2022.
This visually effective submission with excellent referencing was awarded the Best Poster prize for 2022.
The 2021 theme was CONNECTING, and we were impressed by how imaginative the entries were! Take a look below at a selection of winning submissions.
This striking poster on the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was the Overall Winner in 2021.
This brilliant poster on the iconic building, The Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier, won the 2021 'Best Poster' award.
This illuminating poster on quantum entanglement was the joint winner of 'Best Presentation' in 2021.
This eye-catching poster on genetic mapping was the joint winner of 'Best Presentation' in 2021.
This innovative poster on connections between people, place, and identity won the 2021 award for 'Best Research'.
The 2020 theme was GREEN, and we were delighted by how creative the submissions were! Take a look below at some past winners.
This fantastic poster on Fibonacci sequence in nature was the Overall Winner in 2020 and was awarded the prize for 'Best Poster'.
This great poster on Environmentally Sustainable Spaceflight won the 2020 award for 'Best Research'.
While this amazing languages poster for Pan's Labyrinth won Best Presentation in 2020.