SYMPOSIUM

• Overview

• Announcement

• Abstract Guidelines

• How to submit

• Directions to UIS

ABSTRACT GUIDELINES

CLICK HERE FOR CALL FOR ABSTRACT AND REGISTRATION FORM (pdf document)

Guidelines for Abstract Preparation

Abstracts should be submitted electronically as per instructions on the registration form. They will be assembled without revisions into the program book for the day of the symposium. To ensure uniformity, conform to the format specified below.

• Use font 12, preferably New Times Roman.
• Limit your abstract to 250 words or less, not counting title, name (or names if co-authors), and affiliation information. The abstract should consist of a single paragraph, left-justified and without indentation.
• Type the title of the abstract in capital, bold letters.
• The author/affiliation information, typed in bold, should include full name the author(s) and their affiliation (department, school, city, state, zip code).
• Underline the name of the presenter for both oral and poster presentations. Put an asterisk (*) behind the name of the student presenter, to ensure the eligibility for awards.

Traditionally, an abstract includes the following items:

• Introductory statement: Introduces the general subject matter of the study.
• Justification: comments on the ultimate importance of looking at the phenomenon in question.
• Objectives: Specifies the objectives of the study (1-2 sentences).
• Methods: principal methods employed, no detail: a couple of sentences.
• Results and Discussion:- list most important, specific findings and add an interpretive comment ("discussion") to each.
• Summary and significance: - In one sentence summarize the major take-home message of the observations and comment on their significance. (Note that the focus of "significance" is narrower, more specific, than that of justification.)

View Sample Abstract

 

Format and Layout of the Poster: Suggestions for Students

Use the conventional heading for your discipline. Those suggested below are commonly used in the fields of biology and chemistry. In general, for efficient reading, paragraphs should not exceed 15-20 lines.

Poster: 4 ft. X 4 ft. only. To qualify for awards, underline the name of the first author, if a student!

Title: A legible title is the key to attracting the audience to a poster. The poster title should be readable from 10-15 feet away. Use letters about 1.5 inches tall. The names of authors and their affiliation can be slightly smaller.

Abstract: Including an abstract in the poster is a good practice. The upper left corner is a good placement for the abstract.

Introduction: Introduce the most relevant background subject matter in one to two short paragraphs.

Objectives: Specify general and/or specific aims of the study, or state the hypothesis tested. Focus on clarity and brevity.

Methods: Keep this section brief, providing sufficient information to understand how the study was done. Methodology and sequence of procedures is sometimes most efficiently addressed in form of a flowchart.

Results: This is the most important part of the poster. Use tables, graphs, and illustrations to present the data. They should be self-explanatory. All written information that accompanies the illustrations should be brief and coherent.

Discussion: This section should be limited to interpretation of the most important observations. It is often sometimes efficient to include with the results under the heading "Results and Discussion".

Conclusions: This brief but highly important section is best handled as a list of major conclusions in relation to each specific objective of the study.

References: It is desirable to provide a short bibliography (three to five references) listing the work most relevant to the subject under investigation. It is a good practice to also cite these references in the text of the poster.