Project Guidelines: STEM

Abstract Guidelines

An abstract is a concise description of your scholarly work. Your abstract should be 250 words or less. Your abstract submission is due via the MURALS website (murals.colostate.edu) under the ‘Submit’ tab on or before Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 11:59pm. See the abstract outlines to guide you during the process. This can be found on the MURALS website under the ‘Resources’ tab. For inspiration, check out some past abstracts.

For STEM projects, your abstract must explain the background, objective/purpose, methods, results/outcomes and conclusion/next steps and have proper grammar/formatting.

Poster Guidelines

Your professional poster will provide a visual depiction of your scholarly work and must include a 3 minute poster narration. Posters are due on March 23, 2024. For inspiration, check out some past posters.

Your poster can include:

  • high-resolution images
  • detailed charts and diagrams
  • slide shows
  • high definition videos
  • audio files
  • links to external data sets

For STEM projects, your poster must explain the background, methods, results, and conclusion/discussion. Your poster will also be evaluated on its layout and on your presentation delivery.

Oral Presentation Guidelines

Your oral presentation is a 5-8 minute long presentation of your scholarly work which will be presented on March 29, 2024. You will be given a 10 minute time slot which will include the timing for both your presentation (usually 5-8 minutes long) and a Q & A session (usually 2-5 minutes long) in which the evaluators can ask questions about your project. Your oral presentation will be attended by a panel of evaluators, MURALS colleagues and any family or friends whom you choose to invite.

You can design your oral presentation with PowerPoint, Prezi, or another platform of your choice. If your work requires audio, video, animation, etc. be sure to incorporate it in your oral presentation. This portion is the only interactive component so you are welcome to use it as it best suits your scholarly work. A creative art submitter might recite their work or describe their art, a STEM submitter might use a video to show how a mechanism operates, a Social Science Humanities submitter might play snippets of interviews, and a Service Learning submitter might use this time to show an organization’s website. You’re welcome to be creative or follow a standard presentation template. It is important to note that the presentation evaluators have not seen your poster or abstract, so please provide full context of your project during your oral presentation.

For STEM projects, your presentation must explain the purpose of your research. You will also be evaluated on your presentation skills (body language, volume, etc.), layout, formatting and your ability to answer questions clearly and succinctly.