Poster Competition

Plant Sciences Symposium Poster Session 2026

Theme: “The science of plant resilience and adaptation”

Part of the mission of The Ohio State University Plant Sciences Symposium is to promote the participation of undergraduate, graduate students and post doctoral researchers in the discipline of Plant Science by providing an opportunity to showcase their research in a public forum. One of the forums to accomplish this goal is the Poster Session.

Do you have research you’d like to share?  We are looking for students who work with plant-related science to share their exciting research. Poster submissions will be accepted until January 16th, 2026 (deadline extended!). Any plant-related research work will be accepted in this event.

Poster Session 2026

Posters will be presented throughout the Symposium on February 13, 2026 in-person only.  Posters will be judged during the Symposium. Winner from select categories will receive cash prizes!

See the section “What will the judges be looking for in the Poster Competition?” for helpful tips when creating your poster.

How do I apply to present a poster?

Abstracts must be submitted electronically in PDF format and follow the guidelines below. The presenting author must be listed as the first author. Once selected, accepted participants will be sent additional information by email.

Poster submissions must include:

  1. Presentor’s name
  2. Presentor’s institution and affiliation (undergraduate, graduate, or postdoc/staff)
  3. If presentor is a student they must include the name of their advisor
  4. Poster abstract submission in PDF format (250 words maximum)

An example abstract can be found at Sample Abstract.

Submit your abstract on the Poster Abstract Submission page. 

What will the judges be looking for in the Poster Competition?

The judges will evaluate you in different categories. Below are tips on how to excel in each category.

Poster Content

  • Posters should contain relevant information, objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. You can include other parts like future work, alternative hypotheses, etc. You can be creative as to how you present your work, but it should be easy to follow.
  • Tables and figures should be clear and appropriate. This is achieved by proper labeling and having the figures and text big enough.
  • Clearly show the development of your research. The order in which you show your experiments and data matters. Make sure it has a logical flow.
  • Methods should be presented in a way that makes it clear that they will help answer your question and/or test your hypothesis.
  • Include the implications of your conclusions or possible impacts of your results. This does not have to be a big part, but it will serve as a primer for a conversation about the importance of your research.

Project Merit

  • Convey in a clear way how the project came about.
  • Explain how the findings will advance research in the area of study and how they are relevant to this year’s theme of “The science of plant resilience and adaptation”.

Poster Appearance or Clarity

Contact

If you have questions or comments about the Poster Session, please e-mail the Poster Session Sub-Committee Chair Nels O’Connell (oconnell.184@buckeyemail.osu.edu) or plantsciencessymposiumcommittee@buckeyemail.osu.edu