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Poster Presentation Guidelines

Posted in Participation Guidelines.

Thank you for contributing a poster presentation to the 5th Open Science Fair (OSFair 2025), taking place from 15–17 September 2025 at the CERN Science Gateway in Geneva. Below you will find all the necessary information and practical details for your poster session.

Poster Exhibition

A poster exhibition will be organised throughout the entire duration of the conference, with posters displayed prominently to maximise visibility and foot traffic. The posters will be mounted in the 1st Floor of the Globe of Science and Innovation, and will be accessible to all delegates during the conference hours. You can see the floor plan here. 

The main opportunity to present your poster will be during the Poster Session on:

📅 Monday, 15 September 2025
🕡 18:30–20:00
📍 Globe of Science and Innovation, 1st Floor

The poster session will take place during the conference welcome reception, which will be held across both the ground and first floors of the Globe of Science and Innovation. During this time, the demo session will take place on the ground floor, while the poster session will be held on the first floor.

All poster presenters are expected to stand by their posters and actively engage with attendees throughout the session, sharing insights, answering questions, and fostering conversation around their work.

One-Minute Madness: Poster & Demo Pitches

Before the Poster and Demo Sessions, we will host a One-Minute Madness session where both poster and demo presenters will briefly pitch their work to the audience. This fast-paced session is designed to give visibility to your contribution and encourage attendees to engage with you during the reception that follows.

The One-Minute Madness will take place on Monday, 15 September 2025, from 17:45 to 18:30, in the Science Gateway Auditorium A (Room 81/R-003A) at CERN.

All poster presenters are expected to give a one-minute oral pitch, alongside demo presenters. Each presenter will have exactly one minute to introduce their work in a clear and engaging way.

Immediately after the pitch session, the Poster Session will begin at 18:30 in the Globe of Science and Innovation, 1st Floor, where delegates will be invited to explore the poster exhibition and demo stations and interact with presenters in an informal setting.

Please prepare your pitch in advance to make the most of this opportunity!

Digital Materials & One-Minute Madness Presentations

To ensure wider visibility and long-term accessibility of your work, we kindly ask all poster presenters to submit a digital version of their final printed poster (in PDF format). These files will be uploaded to the OSFair website after the event and will serve as part of the online record of the conference.

In addition, if you wish to include a visual aid (e.g. one PowerPoint slide) during your One-Minute Madness pitch, please send it in advance to the organising team.

Submission details:

  • What to send:
    • A digital PDF of your final poster
    • An optional slide for the One-Minute Madness (if you want one displayed while you speak)
  • Send to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Deadline: Friday, 29 August 2025, 17:00 CEST

To support you in preparing your materials, we will provide OSFair 2025-branded presentation templates. These are optional and can be used for your One-Minute Madness slide or any other presentation you may give during the event.

You will receive the templates via email, and they will also be made available on the OSFair 2025 website.

If you have any questions or need support with your materials, feel free to contact the organising team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Poster Set-Up Instructions

  • You will be responsible for mounting your own poster.
  • Poster boards and all necessary mounting materials will be provided.
  • Upon arrival, please check in at the registration desk and notify the staff that you are a poster presenter. They will direct you to the designated poster area.
  • We strongly recommend mounting your poster on Monday morning 15 September as early as possible, to ensure it is ready and visible throughout the event and in time for the poster reception.

Poster Exhibition Times

The poster exhibition area will be open to delegates during the following times:

  • Monday, 15 September: 12:00–21:00
  • Tuesday, 16 September: 09:00–17:45
  • Wednesday, 17 September: 09:00–17:45

Poster Format & Printing

  • Size: A0, portrait orientation (118.9 cm x 84.1 cm)
  • Type: Professionally printed, high-quality paper
  • Responsibility: All design and printing costs are to be covered by the presenter(s)

Poster Printing at CERN

If you present a poster, but can't transport the poster to the conference, we can print it for you using CERN's printshop. To do so, please fill out this form, through which you can upload the poster as a pdf file. You will be prompted to pay CHF 30 which you can pay in the same way you have paid the conference fee. If you need a poster roll because you want to take home your poster, it is an additional CHF 6.

Please make sure that your poster and payment reaches us no later than Monday, 24th of August. We will then print the poster in CERN’s printshop and hand it to you at check-in to the conference. Please note: Once the poster has been handed to you, its care and handling will be your responsibility.

Please follow the following advices for creating the file:

  • Correct page size from the start:

Make sure you set the correct page size (A0 in this case) at the start. E.g. for PowerPoint, change the page setup values to “Custom” and use the following dimensions:

84.09 × 118.9 cm or 33.11 × 46.81 inches

  • Fonts and sizes:

Font: always use sans serif fonts such as Arial or Helvetica.

Text size recommendations:

  • Poster title: minimum 90pt
  • General text: larger than you think – try for minimum 24pt.
  • Footnotes/subtext: this can go down to minimum 10pt.

Make use of bold and colour changes to make your text stand out. But never put red text on a blue background!

  • Image settings:

Imported images must be high resolution, at least 300 dpi and scalable images.

Do not use bitmap images such as JPG, JPEG, GIF and TIFF. Their resolution is fixed and they do not resize well and become pixelated (fuzzy around the edges).

Instead, use vector formats such as EPS, CGM, PICT, and WMF but you must convert your output to PDF before printing. The vector format is resolution-independent, composed of individual objects made from mathematical calculations. These resize well and result in crisp images.

  • Colours:

Many applications, such as PowerPoint, use RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colour mode, whereas plotters that print posters use a four-colour CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK) process. This is why sometimes colours print differently from how they look on screen, e.g. royal blue becomes purple, etc. This is why you must convert your output to PDF before printing. PDFs give exactly the colours as you see on the screen if you use the settings specified on the next pages.

Never use dark backgrounds as the paper will become saturated and cause the colours to run. They tend to make text harder to see and mean the poster will take longer to print and dry.

In fact the printshop will request that you change your dark background before printing. Otherwise, if they are able to print the poster, we will be charged much more than the indicated price, because it will use so much ink, and they make no guarantee as to the quality of the outcome. Sometimes however, they will insist the dark background is changed prior to printing.

Also avoid using “transparent” colour values.

  • Converting your file to PDF:

You should create a PDF, which you must check fully for any errors before printing.

NB: please do not “save as pdf” as this does not keep the page or quality settings.

Poster Design Tips

The most effective posters: [source: https://guides.library.yale.edu/academic-poster-resources]

  • Highlight the main point so that it can be read and understood from a distance
  • Limit the amount of text to 300-800 words -- less is more!
  • Include meaningful images, graphics, or charts to convey information
  • Make use of basic visual design principles
  • Are accessible to as many people as possible
  • Include researcher names and affiliations, references, and funding acknowledgments (if applicable)

To prepare for your pitch & poster design you can also consult the following resources:

Shipping Your Poster (Optional)

If you prefer to ship your printed poster prior to the conference, please ensure it arrives no later than Friday, 29 August 2025 to the following address:

CERN
Attn. Merten Dahlkemper
Esplanade des Particules 1
P.O. Box 1211
Geneva 23, Switzerland
Attn: OSFair 2025

Please enclose with your poster a brief description including the presenter(s) name(s), poster title, and contribution ID to ensure correct identification.

Due to CERN's strict delivery protocols, posters cannot be accepted without prior coordination. We kindly ask you to contact us in advance at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to arrange shipment.

Questions or Assistance

If you have any questions or require assistance related to your poster presentation, please feel free to contact the organising team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We thank you once again for your valuable contribution and look forward to your participation in OSFair 2025!

 

You can view and download the guidelines as a PDF file here.