Poster sessions at professional meetings provide a perfect venue for showcasing preliminary data and pilot projects and provide you with the chance to discuss them directly with other researchers.
Surveyed Ph.D. students reported creating an average of eight posters during their careers and allocating roughly 50% of this time solely toward design aspects.
Background
Machine learning is an area of artificial intelligence that enables computers to make decisions or predictions without being explicitly programmed to do so. This process involves developing algorithms that learn by analyzing data, eventually becoming more accurate over time. Machine learning is an ever-evolving field, and it may be challenging for business leaders to keep pace with its rapid developments; according to a 2020 Deloitte survey, however, most organizations either currently employ machine learning technologies or are planning on adopting it in future projects.
An effective machine learning poster presentation can be an excellent way to share the findings of your research with colleagues and business leaders while simultaneously showing them how your organization can use machine learning to solve real-world issues or open up new opportunities. But remember that machine learning shouldn’t be seen as the answer-all and should instead be treated as one tool among many strategies and techniques that should be utilized together.
Presenters should provide an engaging presentation by clearly and briefly outlining the purpose, methods, and critical findings of their work. They should also outline any statistical modeling approaches utilized and the exact definition of evaluation metrics (Beilenson 2004). Avoid acronyms unless they are widely recognized in your field or already known by all your viewers – for instance, “HEDIS” or “HLM.”
Presenters should provide an overall summary detailing any specific program design features or demographic/geographical groups where significant differences were discovered. They should also address how their research could potentially affect policymakers or stakeholders and address any ethical or societal implications as a result of their research.
Communication should always come first: presenters should run through their posters with someone unfamiliar with their research in order to ensure that the message can be conveyed clearly and effectively. A colleague could help identify areas where content could become obscured by jargon and suggest ways of making it more understandable; this step becomes particularly crucial if presenting to an audience unfamiliar with your area of expertise.
Methods
Posters are an indispensable way for scientists to communicate in-progress research at conferences. Presenters use it as their first chance to showcase their work to a broader audience, and it can even be an effective way of building collaborations. Unfortunately, however, many scientists find the format challenging to create and utilize and the presentation process intimidating; some posters contain too much text or cryptic abbreviations, while others do not provide adequate context for the audience.
To address these challenges, the MLHC research team conducted an online survey and in-person interviews with life scientists to understand how they design posters. Their findings show that scientists typically spend two full days on this process while feeling they lack proper training and feedback from authorities.
Overall, respondents reported using PowerPoint to prepare posters, with 13 out of 23 interviewees also using vector-graphic software. Most interviewees reused templates they found online or from colleagues rather than starting from scratch when creating posters. When scaling images to poster size, though, image resolution suffered.
When designing posters, it is crucial to keep in mind the audience will be viewing it from different distances and lighting conditions. Therefore, the MLHC research team advises using matte paper instead of glossy or laminated poster boards, which will be more legible when seen from far away and in low-light conditions. Avoid adding unnecessary elements to the poster board, as this will detract from its central message and could turn away visitors. Lamination should also be avoided as this degrades paper over time and reduces its appearance and readability. Finally, including an obvious title at the top is critical in order to capture people’s attention quickly – viewers might only spend minutes perusing your posters, so making your message as engaging as possible is vital!
Results
Posters are visual aids used to communicate scientific results, making them an indispensable resource for early career scientists and providing them with valuable feedback from colleagues and the general public about research projects. At poster sessions, attendees can meet presenters to discuss their work while exchanging resources or ideas – an excellent opportunity to network and connect with fellow researchers.
Posters are an engaging way for computer science researchers to engage with attendees while simultaneously informing and inspiring the audience with in-depth discussions of projects. A poster should provide an overview of your findings, with a clear structure and easy-to-understand graphics; fundamental equations or figures should also be listed to facilitate conversation between presenter and attendees; it may even help with overall picture comprehension by including flow charts or system diagrams that help explain things better.
As part of your report, it is also beneficial to include any pertinent ethical considerations (i.e., acknowledgments, IRBs, consent statements) as well as disclose all data collaborations. When detailing statistical modeling methodology, it is also crucial that exact sample sizes and model evaluation metrics are documented, as well as implementation details for software platforms or high-performance computing cluster services used to train and test your model.
Details regarding your machine learning algorithm should be presented in an easily understood manner for those without extensive technical expertise. For example, if it is designed to detect disease in medical records, explain critical features of your model, like competitive inhibition or Hebbian rules, in terms of explaining it to them.
Conclusions
Poster presentations can be challenging to prepare for, yet they can also provide valuable networking experiences. By adhering to some basic guidelines, students can create captivating posters and deliver confident presentations. The key to successful poster presentations lies in making research clear and accessible to non-experts.
Use visuals such as charts, graphs, photos, and illustrations to illustrate your points. Keep text to a minimum; write concisely using bullet points or short paragraphs. Utilize an abstract that summarizes your study’s goals, methods, and findings before including contact information in case people want to follow up later. If additional details cannot fit onto one poster alone, print A4- or letter-sized supplements and distribute them freely among interested viewers if necessary. Remember that audiences typically only spend minutes at each sign, so make sure your elevator pitch captures their interest while encouraging further exploration!
The Medical and Life Science Healthcare Conference is an international gathering that brings together traditionally distinct communities – computer scientists specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data technologies, as well as medical/biomedical researchers. By encouraging collaborations between these groups, the MLHC promotes new technologies that may contribute to improvements in human health and well-being.
Participating in a poster session gives students an excellent experience for communicating their research to non-experts and a better understanding of how to interpret and evaluate scientific literature. Furthermore, participation is fun – you get to interact with colleagues and find it an enjoyable process!
An 18-item student questionnaire (Additional file 1) was administered to gain students’ opinions about the value of posters as an assessment and feedback strategy. Most agreed that signs had helped them select important material (92%), understand and describe disadvantages (91%), and make an impactful change in the community (86%). Most staff also felt posters provided an efficient and fair method of assessment, although many felt more engaged in discussing students’ work if assessed on an individual basis.
